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SBL: Pure Youth rally to beat Leopards

Wang Chih-chun of the Dacin Tigers, right, tries to steal the ball from Lin Chih-lung of the Bank of Taiwan team during the Super Basketball League match Saturday in Taipei. PHOTO: WANG YI-SUNG, TAIPEI TIMES

Overcoming a five-point halftime deficit with a strong third quarter, Pure Youth Construction edged past the Taiwan Mobile Leopards in an 88-86 decision at the Taipei County Sports Complex on Saturday night.

After Friday's disheartening loss at the hands of the top-tanked Yulon Dinos, the builders were both physically and emotionally drained heading into Saturday's contest versus a well-rested Leopards squad that was playing their first game of the week. And their on-court performance showed just that as the builders jumped out to a quick 24-16 lead after the opening quarter but soon faded off in an error-filled second quarter to actually trail the Leopards 37-42 at the half.

It took a valiant effort by guard Chen Shih-jeh who led a Pure Youth comeback with 13 points in a well-played third quarter to help his team regain a 65-61 advantage by the end of the third before they held off a fierce Leopards rally in the fourth to ran away with a narrow victory.

Chen would finish the game with a season-high 28 points on the night for Pure Youth while top center Jien Jia-hong followed with 21 points account for the bulk over half of the builders' total offense.

As for the hapless Leopards, even though five players scored in double-digits in the game, led by veteran forwards Lai Guo-hong and Hong Chi-chao's 18 and 17 points, respectively, it was still not enough to help them pull off an upset win as they dropped their fourth straight.

BANK OF TAIWAN 89, TIGERS 101

Dacin Tigers snapped a four-game losing skid by beating Bank of Taiwan 101-89 on Saturday to avoid what would have been a new club record for longest losing streak.

With their top scorer and former league MVP winner Tien Lei out for nearly the entire season and at least two of their regular starters out of the lineup due to injuries on a regular basis, the Tigers simply were not the same team as the perennial powerhouse that they had been over the past four seasons.

Saturday's contest was a struggle for the Tigers defensively as they failed to contain even the last-place bankers by allowing 51 first-half points. It took a strong showing by the Tigers frontcourt to gradually shut down the bankers in the second half, before they finally prevailed in the fourth to pull off the big win.

Both teams placed four players in double-digit scoring with the bankers' Hsu Chih-chiang pouring in a game-high 25 to lead all scorers. Standing opposite Hsu was the Dacin's Lin Yi-hui who was equally effective in taking the ball strong to the hoop with 18 points of his own to keep the bankers' interior defense honest.

Backcourt tandem Wang Chih-chuin and Su Yi-jeh also racked up 19 points apiece with several coming off spectacular finishes from the Tigers' speedy transition game.

Leopards skipper Cheng Chih-long was furious after the loss as his troops failed to maintain their first-half intensity with a sloppy second half to lose this one by a dozen.
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