Holding the Yulon Luxgens scoreless for nearly six minutes in the decisive fourth quarter, Pure Youth Construction overcame a lethargic third quarter to come out on top 69-67 in Game 3 of their SBL semi-final series at the Taipei Physical Education College Gymnasium in Tianmu last night.
The win not only gave the defending champions a 2-1 advantage in the best-of-seven series that will send the winners into the championship series, but also proved that the Builders can win the close games too after they had breezed past most of their opponents during the regular season with an incredible 26-4 record to storm into the post-season.
Nine quick points by James Mao led the way for Pure Youth as they took a slim 21-18 lead in the opening frame and they added four to the cushion with a solid second quarter to close out the first half with a 41-34 lead.
The halftime deficit did not rattle the Luxgens, though, as they swarmed back with a tremendous third quarter behind a fine effort by veteran Lee Chi-yi and hired gun Herve Lamizana, who led to a 10-0 run midway through the quarter to tie the game at 49-49.
Yulon actually led by as many as seven points at the six-minute mark in the fourth, before an all-out defensive effort by the Builders held them scoreless until the closing seconds of the contest.
“We know defense wins games in the post-season and that was exactly what happened tonight — we played ‘tough D’ as a team and I am glad we came out ahead in the end,” Mao said after the game.
Yulon had several opportunities to close the gap during the five-plus minute scoring drought in the fourth quarter with nine free-throw attempts, but they managed to convert only three, including six straight misses at crucial junctures as they self-destructed.
Yesterday’s other result:
‧Leopards 65, Tigers 62
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later