Emmanuel Jones scored a game-high 29 points with 14 rebounds, while Wu Dai-hao chipped in a -season-high 27, as Taiwan Beer defeated Kinmen Kaoliang 89-82 at the Sinjhuang Gymnasium in the Sinjhuang District of New Taipei City yesterday afternoon.
It was the first time in nearly a month that the twin towers for the Brew Crew saw some serious floor action together (with Wu having missed nine games to nurse an injury), which meant good news for skipper Yen Jia-hua and bad news for Taiwan Beer’s opponents.
The Distillers saw just that as the Taiwan Beer tandem combined for 56 points to account for 63 percent of their team’s total offense, to humble a Kinmen Kaoliang interior defense that was overwhelmed in every aspect of the game.
Photo: Wang Min-wei, Taipei Times
The win not only nipped a two-game slide for the regular-season champs, who wrapped up the top-seed honor in the upcoming playoffs more than two weeks ago, but also showed the rest of the league just how potent Taiwan Beer could really be despite their recent setbacks.
Kinmen Kaoliang managed to hang with the men in their familiar green in an evenly fought first quarter that ended on a 22-all draw, but that was the extent they could handle Taiwan Beer as the Brew Crew pulled off a 12-0 run three minutes into the second quarter to claim a double-digit lead at the half (47-36).
Taiwan Beer increased their lead to as much as 16 points in the fourth, before Kinmen Kaoliang rallied to fall within three late in the game.
However, Jones promptly came up with a thunderous dunk followed by a bucket from Wu to put the game away.
TIGERS 101, LUXGENS 78
The Dacin Tigers clinched a No. 3 finish in the regular season with a convincing 101-78 win over the Yulon Luxgens in the second game in Sinjhuang last night.
That meant they will take on second-seeded Pure Youth in the playoffs instead off top-ranked Taiwan Beer, who will likely face the Luxgens in the four-team post-season.
Against the red-hot Tigers, winners in their last four and five of their last six, the defending champs kept the deficit to under six in the first half with fine plays from Yang Tseh-yi and Chou Shih-yuan.
However, Dacin opened the third quarter with Tien Lei and Alexus Foyle leading the way in an 11-0 run to take a 16-point lead.
That was more than ample as the Cats maintained their level of intensity in the final quarter to run the Luxgens off the court in a merciless rout.
Foyle ended the day with game-highs of 31 points and 18 rebounds, while Yang’s 18 topped all Yulon scorers.
BANK OF TAIWAN 88, LEOPARDS 84
Bank of Taiwan made it three straight with a thrilling 88-84 win over the Taiwan Mobile Leopards in Sinjhuang late last night to close out the weekend with a perfect 3-0 mark.
Chen Hsuen-shiang’s timely block on a shot attempt by the Leopards’ Yen Chen-hong in the closing seconds was the difference in the game as the Bankers held off a ferocious comeback by Taiwan Mobile to keep the win intact.
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