This year’s Taiwan Strait Tournament opened at the Taipei Physical Education College Gymnasium in Tianmu yesterday with the Yulon Luxgens edging the Taiwan Mobile Cloud Leopards in a 71-68 thriller.
Lu Cheng-rue’s three-pointer with 33 seconds remaining turned a one-point deficit into a two-point lead for the Luxgens, as they held off a late-game rally by the Leopards to escape with a narrow victory.
Also starring for the Luxgens were Chou Shih-yuan and Chen Shan-mei, whose 33 combined points accounted for nearly half of the score posted by a Yulon squad whose top priority this season is to revamp an inside attack after the departure of all-star center Tseng Wen-ding to the Chinese Basketball Association.
Photo courtesy of the CTBA
The Leopards are looking to build on last season’s success with newcomer Luke Nevill from Australia and skipper Cheng Chih-lung said he was relatively pleased with his team’s performance, despite the loss.
“We accomplished our goal for the game, which was to test-run some offensive and defensive schemes with the new guys in the lineup,” Cheng said after the game.
Nevill led all scorers with 21 points and 11 rebounds in a double-double effort for his new team.
NEW CENTURY 85, PURE YOUTH 80
Pure Youth Construction were no match for the visiting Dongguan New Century in their tournament opener, dropping a tight decision to start the exhibition season on a sour note.
Newly acquired three-point threat Chen Tzu-wei made a big splash in his Pure Youth debut by leading the defending Super Basketball League champs with 16 points.
France’s Kevin Aymoz snatched the men’s title at Skate America on Saturday, winning his first grand prix title with a battling free skate, while short program leader Kazuki Tomono faltered. It was an emotional triumph for Aymoz, who made his grand prix level debut in 2017, with seven prior podium finishes, but no gold. He had struggled with a painful foot injury since a disappointing 10th-place finish at Skate Canada last month. “It was so difficult,” the 28-year-old said. “After Skate Canada I wanted to give up so much and today I’m here and it’s so beautiful to be with my friends competing
A start-up’s entry into prediction market trading is raising fresh questions about the involvement of NBA owners in sports betting. The start-up, Mojo Interactive Inc, was cofounded by Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore, the owners of the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves and the WNBA’s Lynx. Mojo has started trading on the outcome of sports games on the prediction market exchange Kalshi, an arrangement that is now being reviewed by the NBA. Mojo began trading event contracts tied to sports during the NFL season this fall, according to Mojo CEO Vinit Bharara. Mojo has yet to trade on any NBA games, Bharara said in
PORTUGAL LOSE: Ronaldo was sent off in their defeat for elbowing an Ireland player, while England, who are already qualified, defeated Serbia 2-0 to stay perfect Kylian Mbappe and France on Thursday booked a berth at next year’s FIFA World Cup, but Cristiano Ronaldo might be banned from Portugal’s first game there if his team finally win their European qualifying group. Two goals from star striker Mbappe helped two-time champions France to qualify with a 4-0 home win against Ukraine, but Ronaldo was ejected for the first time in his international career and Portugal have to wait until tomorrow to secure a qualifying spot for the seventh straight time after they were stunned 2-0 by Ireland in Dublin. Midfielder Michael Olise and substitute forward Hugo Ekitike added the
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