Jermaine Dailey’s strong drive to the hoop for two with one second remaining in overtime broke an 82-82 tie for the Yulon Luxgens and they went on to defeat Pure Youth Construction 84-82 at the Kaohsiung Fengshan Gymnasium last night.
It was the best thing that the hired gun from the US could have done for his team, considering the fact that he had not played particularly well in their previous two contests, which resulted in a pair of losses for the defending champions.
The go-ahead bucket was just what the doctor ordered as the Luxgens maintained their narrow lead over Bank of Taiwan in the standings for the fourth and final post-season qualifying spot.
Photo: Huang Chih-yuan, Taipei Times
“Everybody has a role on this team and my role is to rebound and play good defense,” Dailey said.
He did more than rebound and play defensive on a night his team needed a good effort from him.
Dailey’s late-game heroics, coupled with a fine performance from veteran guard Yang Tseh-yi, who accounted for seven of his team’s nine points in overtime, saved what would have been an embarrassing loss for the Luxgens as they squandered leads as large as 13 points in the third quarter to allow the Builders back into the game.
The game was tied with less than a minute left on the clock in overtime when Pure Youth’s James Mao earned a pair of go-ahead free throws, but he missed both to give the ball back to Yulon, setting the stage for Dailey’s game-winner.
LEOPARDS 86, TIGERS 70
With foreign star Marcus Dove out serving a one-game suspension, the Taiwan Mobile Leopards still managed to upset the Dacin Tigers in the first of three matches in Kaohsiung yesterday.
Tiger scoring icon Tien Lei became the first player in the league to surpass the 4,000-point mark after scoring 21 on the night. That earned him a standing ovation from his home crowd and a brief ceremony to honor his tremendous feat.
“I am really glad to have done it [score 4,000 points] and I hope to keep it up,” Tien said after the game. “The credit for three [thousand] of the 4,000 points should go to coach Liu Jia-fa for his selfless teaching and support,” Tien added, attributing his success to the former Dacin coach, now a TV commentator who worked the game from the broadcast booth.
However, it was the Leopards’ Wu Yong-ren (who also attended Kaohsiung’s San Min Senior High School with Tien) who stole the show as he connected on three clutch-threes in the decisive fourth to get the job done.
Sloppy ball-handling that led to 16 turnovers and poor four-for-24 shooting from behind the three-point arc were to blame for the Tigers’ defeat after they managed to hang with the Leopards for three quarters, before faltering in the fourth in a losing effort.
Taiwan Beer 74, Bank of Taiwan 55
Top-ranked Taiwan Beer vented their frustration following a loss on Friday night with a victory over Bank of Taiwan in the late game last night.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Forget Real Madrid, Manchester City or Paris Saint-Germain, the world’s best soccer team — statistically speaking — might be a little-known outfit from the closed central Asian nation of Turkmenistan. Founded last year, Arkadag, named in honor of former Turkmen president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, have been unstoppable, notching up 36 consecutive domestic victories in a run still ongoing. The side have not lost a single competitive match and swept to a league and cup double in their inaugural season — success unthinkable almost anywhere else. However, in Turkmenistan, it could hardly have gone any other way. The energy-rich country is one of the most closed
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan on Saturday won the men’s doubles bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, after they were bested by the hosts in their semi-final. The Taiwanese shuttlers lost to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who advanced to yesterday’s final against Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzudin. The Chinese pair outplayed Lee and Yang in straight games. Although the Taiwanese got off to a slow start in the first game, they eventually tied it 14-14, before Liang and Wang went on to blow past them to win 21-17. In the second game, Lee and