Failure to secure a key defensive rebound late in the game denied Bank of Taiwan the chance to force a tie as they fell to the Dacin Tigers 66-70 at the Taipei County Sports Complex on Friday evening.
Reducing a second-half deficit that had been as large as 19 to only four with 12 seconds remaining, the Bankers chose to freeze the clock by fouling the Tigers and sending them to the free throw line in the hope of getting the ball back.
And the strategy nearly worked, as the Tigers missed both free throws to keep the lead at four with the Bankers seemingly set to gain possession of the ball with an opportunity to cut the Dacin lead down to one.
PHOTO: WANG YI-SUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
But failure to box out the shooter on the part of the Bankers gave the ball back to the Tigers and cost them the game as the clock ran down.
"It's all about doing the fundamentals well, letting them have that last rebound really hurt us a lot," Bank of Taiwan head coach Lai Liang-chung said after the game.
The contest began with Dacin jumping to a 26-17 lead in the first quarter, sealed by several hard drives to the hoop by speedy guards Chang Chih-fong and Su Yi-jeh.
Then came an agonizingly slow second quarter that netted a record-low of 18 combined points that gave the Tigers a 37-24 advantage at halftime.
A 7-1 run in favor of the Tigers would give them a sizable 19-point cushion midway through the third, before the bankers mustered a counteroffensive that brought the deficit down to 10 heading into the final quarter.
Bank of Taiwan would continue to chip away at the deficit with strong inside plays from forwards Hsu Chih-chiang and Chang Rong-hsuen, making it a seven-point game before Jien Ming-fu's long three with just under 12 seconds remaining made it 66-70 in favor of Dacin.
That was as close as the Bankers got as the rally fell one rebound short.
Numen 70, Leopards 58
The dmedia Numen won their second straight game, the sixth in their last seven, to reclaim a tie for second place in the standings together with Taiwan Beer following a 70-58 win over the Taiwan Mobile Leopards on Friday.
Not afraid to fire from the perimeters against the Leopards' 2-3 zone defense, the trigger-happy Numen put up 79 shots in the game, including 13 three-pointers on 47 attempts, to bombard the Leopards.
They also dominated the battle off the glass with a 49-28 rebound differential to win this one fair and square, despite several questionable no-calls by the officiating crew that often went against them in a physical match.
A slew of three-pointers by the Leopards offense gave them a quick 13-5 lead in the early going before the Numen rallied from behind to end the quarter trailing 13-17.
Neither team would hold leads of more than five over the next 15 minutes of play after the Leopards briefly claimed a 25-17 lead early in the second as the seesaw affair developed into a defensive struggle.
That would end in a hurry as the Numen closed out the third quarter with a 13-5 run on the strength of three combined three-pointers by Ouyang Jin-hen and Wu Jia-long to lead it 54-44 before holding off the Leopards for the win.
Four players scored in double-digits for the Numen with Ouyang leading the way with a game-high 18, while only two of the Taiwan Mobile players managed to break the single-digit scoring barrier.
Jonathan Sanders had 15 points and 18 boards for the Numen.
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