Overcoming deficits as large as nine points in the third quarter, the Yulon Luxgens rallied in the fourth with a valiant 29-10 run to defeat the Dacin Tigers 84-70 at the Hsinchu Municipal Gymnasium on Friday evening.
The win not only extended the Luxgens’ winning streak to five, but also propelled them into a second-place tie with Kinmen Liquor on the 10-6 mark at the halfway point of the regular season.
The 33-year-old point guard Chen Chih-chung showed no signs of his age by racking up a dozen points and assists along with eight rebounds to lead the Yulon offense, two rebounds shy of a triple-double performance. His outstanding effort kept the Dacin defense off-balance, particularly in the decisive fourth quarter, and that cost the defending champions the win.
“It was a big win for us, considering that we hadn’t beaten them so far this season,” Chen said after the game.
With Chen enjoying tremendous success in his perimeter game, it freed up some room for All-Star center Tseng Wen-ding to maneuver underneath the basket and net a team-high 16 points.
The top-ranked Tigers flashed signs of brilliance, with Wang Chih-chuin hitting four three-pointers in the third quarter to help them take a nine-point lead, but they were unable to sustain the same level of play in the fourth, and a scoring drought that lasted more than three minutes lost them the game in the end.
The loss nipped a three-game winning run for the Cats, which skipper Chiou Da-tsong believed was good for his troops as it exposed several areas of weakness that needed to be improved.
“It [the loss] really humbled us and showed us where we need to improve in order to be a top-caliber team,” Chiou said after the game.
TAIWAN BEER 86, BANK OF TAIWAN 77
Hapless Bank of Taiwan proved no match for Taiwan Beer as they suffered an 86-77 defeat on Friday, their ninth straight setback.
Behind the stellar shooting by Chen Hsuen-shiang, who nailed five three-pointers on a 21-point night, the Bankers actually stayed with the Brew Crew for a good part of the game, keeping the deficit to single digits through the first two quarters. That was as long as they could stay with the men in green and they faltered in the third quarter to fall behind by as many as 15.
Derek Stribling had another fine day for Taiwan Beer, pouring in 18 points and 11 boards, along with five assists.
Yang Jing-min also had a solid game with a game-high 22 points to help Beer extend their winning streak to three.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite