Pure Youth Construction finally ran out of steam as they dropped an 85-63 decision to the Yulon Luxgens at the Sinjhuang Sports Complex in New Taipei City late yesterday afternoon to end a nine-game winning streak.
An outstanding defensive effort by the Luxgens proved to be the difference in the game as they forced the Builders to make a season-high 20 turnovers. This turned into at least 20 points at the other end of the floor for Yulon, as their solid defense cooled off the previously red-hot Builders.
“Defense really won the game for us today,” Yulon rookie head coach Chiou Chi-yi said after the game.
Photo: Courtesy of the SBL
The four-time league champs used key scoring runs of 11-3 and 10-0 in the third quarter to turn a two-point lead at the half into a colossal cushion en route to the blowout victory.
As well as a stellar defensive effort, the Luxgens also celebrated the return of Lu Cheng-rue from an injury, as the perimeter threat hit four three-pointers to lead all scorers with 22 points.
Yulon opened the game with a surprising 10-0 run and held Pure Youth to only four points through five minutes of play, before the Builders closed the gap to finish the first quarter down 20-13.
Pure Youth managed to reduce the deficit further with a solid quarter that brought them to within two of the Luxgens at the half, before a third-quarter collapse sealed their fate long before the final buzzer sounded.
Four different players scored in double-digits for the Luxgens, while only two broke past single-digits for Pure Youth, reflecting the Luxgens’ spectacular defensive effort.
The Builders had averaged 92.4 points a game in their previous five games, before being held to a season-low 63 points.
TAIWAN BEER 63, KINMEN KAOLIANG 62
Taiwan Beer squandered a 14-point second-half lead, but had just enough left in their tank to eke past Kinmen Kaoliang by one point in the early game in Sinjhuang yesterday afternoon to win their weekend-opener.
Cheng “Qoo” Ren-wei’s free throw with 28.6 seconds remaining broke a 62-all tie to give the Brew Crew a 63-62 advantage, a lead they held on to thanks to a tenacious defense in the closing seconds to prevail with the victory.
“We had our chances in this game, but we did not execute as well as we could have,” Kinmen Kaoliang forward Shang Wei-fan said after the game.
It was his back-to-back three-pointers that breathed new life into the Distillers in the final quarter to force a 57-all tie late in the game.
Trailing by one, Kinmen Liquor had more than 20 seconds to work with on their final possession, but they failed to find an open shot with the clock winding down as Hung Chi-chao missed from behind the three-point arc to lose the game by one.
The win avenged Taiwan Beer’s pair of one-point losses to the same Kinmen Kaoliang squad in their two previous meetings.
TIGERS 79, CLOUD LEOPARDS 78
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