The Dacin Tigers fought off a tenacious rally by Pure Youth Construction in the fourth quarter as they held on to win Game 5 of the SBL semi-finals 83-76 at the Sinjhuang Gymnasium in New Taipei City last night to take the best-of-seven series by a 4-1 margin.
Tien Lei scored a game-high 21 points with eight rebounds, while Alexus Foyle followed with 20 points and 14 boards to account for nearly half of the Tigers’ total offense, helping the Cats earn a berth in the Championship Finals for the third straight season.
“We really played as a team tonight, that’s why we were able to win it,” Tien said after the game.
The victory was the icing on the cake for the league’s top player last month, who was presented with the coveted Player-of-the-Month trophy during the halftime intermission.
His timely surge could mean trouble for top-seeded Taiwan Beer in next week’s Championship Finals.
The Tigers came out firing in a high-scoring opening frame that saw them pour in 25 points to lead the Builders 25-17 through the first 10 minutes of play, with Tien and Foyle combining for 17 points.
However, Pure Youth answered with Chien Jia-hong’s 11 points in a 23-point second quarter to close out the first half trailing by five (45-40).
James Mao’s long-range three to open the third quarter brought the Builders to within two as they eventually tied the game up at 49-all with six minutes remaining in the third.
A 7-0 run by the Tigers, highlighted by a put-back slam by Foyle, made it 58-51 midway through the third, only to see the Builders counter with an 8-5 run that kept the deficit to four heading into the final quarter.
Dacin led by as many as 14 points (75-61) over the first three minutes of the fourth, before the Builders went on a 12-3 run of their own in the next five minutes to pull within five with under two minutes remaining in the game.
That was as close as they got as the Tigers calmly ran down the clock with some nifty passing and several clutch free throws to seal the deal.
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