Play resumed in the Super Basketball League (SBL) on Friday, with Kinmen Liquor downing Pure Youth Construction 100-83 and the Dacin Tigers trouncing Bank of Taiwan 86-66 in the newly renovated Taipei Municipal Gymnasium.
Amid a contractual dispute between the league and broadcaster ESPN that led to an unannounced television blackout islandwide, the games went on and Kinmen Liquor took advantage of a shorthanded Pure Youth squad — missing big man Jien Jia-hong — and broke the century mark in scoring to top the builders.
Emerging forward Cheng Ren-wei (National Taiwan Normal University), who followed his outstanding “Final Four” showing in the annual University Basketball Association championship earlier this week with a season-high 25 points for Kinmen Liquor, was the main reason Kinmen Liquor was able to drop the builders to avenge an earlier loss.
PHOTO: CHIEN JUNG-FONG, TAIPEI TIMES
Also starring for Kinmen Liquor was Cheng’s frontcourt mate, Chen Jing-huan, who netted 20 points for the second straight game to lift his team past Pure Youth.
The contest began with Kinmen Liquor firing on all cylinders with 23 first-quarter points to grab a 23-16 lead. Kinmen Liquor would up its lead to as many as 20 midway through the second quarter with an amazing 17-4 run before Pure Youth fought back and closed the gap at a more respectable 48-37 at the half.
A second-half rally by the builders behind the red-hot shooting of James Mao and Chen Jung-jeh would bring them to within five of Kinmen Liquor. But that was as close as they got, as Kinmen Liquor quickly regained its composure and answered with a 10-3 run of its own for a double-digit lead it held onto for the big win.
TIGERS 86, BANK OF TAIWAN 66
The Dacin Tigers had little trouble handling Bank of Taiwan in the later game at the Taipei Municipal Gymnasium on Friday, robbing the Bankers with a convincing 86-66 victory to improve to a league-best 9-2 mark.
Tien Lei and Byron Allen each scored 18 for the cats in a game that was long decided before the final whistle as Dacin grabbed a sizable 24-15 lead after the opening quarter and never looked back.
Even though the Bankers did flash signs of brilliance — with Chen Hsuen-shiang attacking the basket with several strong drives against the Tigers reserves during the second half — it did not have a bearing on the outcome as Dacin was simply too strong for them.
All 12 players gained floor time for the Tigers as skipper Chiou Da-tsong played his bench generously in the interest of conserving his starters for a much tougher battle against Kinmen Liquor set for yesterday.
As for the Bankers, the loss marked their seventh straight and 10th in 11 games, having many wondering if they will ever win again.
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