Another double-20 performance by newcomer Rashad Jones-Jennings, his fourth in a row, paved the way for Pure Youth Construction to cruise past Bank of Taiwan 88-63 at the Taipei Gymnasium yesterday afternoon.
The outstanding effort by the American big man, who netted 24 points and rebounds, not only tied the league record for consecutive double-20 outings by an individual player, but more importantly kept the second-placed Builders (7-2) in the race with top-of-the-table Taiwan Beer, setting the two teams apart from the rest of the pack.
Playing without the services of imported player Jason Faulknor because of an injury, the Bankers managed to hang with the Builders for little more than a quarter, with Hsu Chih-chiang scoring 10 of their first 20 points to keep the deficit to single digits, but that was the extent to which they could keep up with Pure Youth, who pulled away midway through the second quarter with James Mao and Chien Jia-hong combining for 11 points in the quarter as they closed out the first half with a double-digit advantage.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung. Taipei Times
The lead continued to widen for the Builders, with Jones-Jennings doing what he does best, dominating the inside of the paint with 14 rebounds and 15 points in the second half to up his team’s cushion to well over 20 en route to a lopsided win.
“He [Jones-Jennings] really did a number on us, even though we tried for a while to deny him the ball as much as we could,” Bankers skipper Lai Liang-chung said after the game.
His game plan to defend against Jones-Jennings’ inside game while giving up the outside shots to the Builders never worked.
Next up for Pure Youth will be a feisty Taiwan Mobile Leopards squad who have dropped two straight after upsetting the Dacin Tigers early last week.
It will be interesting to see how well the Cats’ Keith Gayden will matchup against a red-hot Jones-Jennings.
As for the shorthanded Bankers, losers of three straight, the absence of Faulknor for at least a month could mean trouble.
They fell to 2-6 for the season.
TIGERS 100, LUXGENS 72
Reaching the century mark for the first time this season, the Dacin Tigers manhandled the Yulon Luxgens in the second game yesterday to improve to 5-3 for the season.
Tien Lei was at his best once against following Friday night’s 31-point outburst.
He scored 26 points against the Tigers’ archrivals, while fellow forward Lin Yi-hui added another 25 to account for over half of the Tigers’ offensive production.
Though the Tigers easily won the contest, the night belonged to the Luxgens’ all-star center Tseng Wen-ding, who left his mark with a rare triple-double performance (10 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists) in his final game in a Yulon uniform as his contract is due to expire after a 10-year stint, freeing him up for what should be a lucrative offer to play in the Chinese Basketball Association.
“I didn’t know it was going to end up this way, but I have much to be thankful for what the Yulon organization has done for me,” a tearful and emotional Tseng said after the game.
TAIWAN BEER 82, LEOPARDS 62
Taiwan Beer also kept their winning ways going with a trouncing of the Taiwan Mobile Leopards in the final game last night to up their league-leading record to 8-1.
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