Nearly blowing a 25-point lead in the fourth-quarter, the Yulon Dinos needed a strong finish from Chen "Airman" Hsin-an who scored the final six points for his team in the game to preserve an 89-80 win over the Taiwan Mobile Leopards at the Taipei County Sports Complex Sunday afternoon.
The win not only avenged the Dinos' earlier loss to the Leopards which denied the league-leaders a chance to set a new mark for longest winning streak (13), but also maintained a two-game cushion for Yulon over the second-place Taiwan Beer as they head into the 12-day long Chinese New Year break.
Former Dinos Hsu Wei-sheng and Liu Sheng-yao played a brilliant first half by combining for 21 of the Leopards' 36 points to actually give their team a surprising 36-35 lead at the half against the top-ranked club in the league.
But the Dinos would take their game to another level with 30 points in the third quarter while holding the Leopards to a meagerly dozen to claim a comfortable 65-48 advantage and eventually led by as many as 25 points before an all-out rally by the Leopards nearly turned the tide in the end.
"What happened tonight further proved the point that no lead is ever big enough in this game," Dinos head coach Lee Yun-kuan said after the game.
The loss by the Leopards was their seventh straight as they continued a midseason slump that had set them back from a respectable 6-7 record that was good enough for fourth place in the standings at one point in the season to a disappointing 6-14 mark that is only better than the 3-17 Bank of Taiwan.
Pure Youth 71, Taiwan Beer 84
Wu Dai-hao led a fierce attack that poured in 52 points in the first half as Taiwan Beer cooled off red-hot Pure Youth Constructions in an 84-71 victory on Sunday to cap off the weekend with a perfect 3-0 record.
Following its incredible come-from-behind win over the bankers the night before, many had thought that the beer crew was emotionally drained out and was considered sitting ducks in an uphill battle versus a builders' squad that had won five in a row.
Instead, the men in their familiar green limited the Pure Youth offense which had averaged over 102 points per game over the past four games, to 71 total points on the night with a horrendous 4-for-13 shooting from behind the three-point line.
Other than Wu's total dominance inside the paint, Taiwan Beer also fired at will from the perimeters against a worn-out builders' club en route to the monstrous win.
Five different Taiwan Beer players scored in double-digits with Wu leading the way with 21 points and 18 rebounds while Lin "the Beast" Chih-jeh contributed 15 and a game-high six assists. Veteran forward Shang Wei-fang also filled in nicely with 14 in the game for an injured Ho Sho-cheng who did not dress for the game.
Numen 79, Tigers 75
Behind 23 points and 20 rebounds by all-purpose Jonathan Sanders in his fourth double-20 outing of the season, the dmedia Numen downed the Dacin Tigers by a 79-75 margin to salvage a 1-1 split in a tough two-game sequence for the weekend.
Though never by more than five points, the Tigers managed to hold a lead through the first three quarters until a 7-0 run by the Numen midway through the fourth turned the tide in favor of dmedia.
Even though the Tigers would tie the game up at 71-all and 73-all in the final two minutes, that was as close as they came as Sanders took over the game from that point to deliver the victory.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two