Doug Creighton’s tie-breaking three-pointer with 30.9 seconds remaining in the game put Taiwan Beer ahead 80-77, as they went on to defeat Pure Youth Construction 83-79 at the Taipei Gymnasium last night for their sixth straight win.
It was a big shot for the newly naturalized Taiwan citizen, who had spent the last two seasons with the Builders and Bank of Taiwan, before joining the men in green on what many consider the best offseason signing this year.
“Coach Yen just told me at the intermission that I should take whatever shots that came to me without worrying about anything,” Creighton said after the game.
He converted four of six from behind the three-point arc on what ended up being a 16-point night to help the top-ranked Brew Crew cool off a Pure Youth squad that had built up a head of steam by winning six straight prior to last night’s contest.
Also starring for Taiwan Beer were Yang Jing-min and imported star Emmanuel Jones, whose 21 points apiece made it one player too many for the Builders’ defense.
The showdown between the top two teams in the league lived up to its billing with several lead-changes and the ejections of a key player from each team (Pure Youth’s Rashad Jones-Jennings and Taiwan Beer’s Wu Dai-hao) that kept a near-sellout crowd on its feet most of the way.
After Pure Youth took a surprising 26-22 lead after the first quarter, the momentum quickly swung Taiwan Beer’s way as they out-muscled the Builders in the second quarter to claim a 41-38 lead at the half.
An 8-2 run in favor of Taiwan Beer at the start of the third widened their lead to nine, before the Builders fought all the way back to take a brief lead midway through the fourth.
However, experience ultimately came through in a big way for Taiwan Beer as they reclaimed the lead on Creighton’s three en route to a dramatic finish.
BANK OF TAIWAN 80, LEOPARDS 76
Bank of Taiwan won back-to-back games for the first time this season by topping the Taiwan Mobile Leopards 80-76 earlier yesterday afternoon.
Hsu Chih-chiang redeemed his two free-throw misses in the fourth quarter by nailing the go-ahead jumper and a pair of free-throws in the closing minute to seal the victory.
As for the Leopards, a solid first-half effort turned sour in a sloppy second half as they committed 11 turnovers against a tightened Bankers’ defense to lose in the closing minutes.
KINMEN KAOLIANG, 76 LUXGENS 85
The Yulon Luxgens bounced back from a tough loss to the Bankers on Friday night with a sound 85-76 win over Kinmen Kaoliang in the final game yesterday.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
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