The Dacin Tigers bounced back from a tough loss to the Yulon Luxgens the night before with an 81-75 victory over Taiwan Beer at the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology Gymnasium in Greater Taichung yesterday afternoon to even their record for the season at 2-2.
Eight first-quarter points by Chu Yi-tsong gave the Tigers an early advantage as they led by as many as 10 in the first half, before the Brew Crew found their shooting range, with Liu Chan downing a dozen in the second quarter to force a 37-37 tie at halftime.
Liu carried his red-hot shooting into the second half with eight points in the third quarter to lead the men in their familiar green outfits to a three-point lead at the start of the fourth, but a 7-0 run by the Tigers with less than three minutes to play, coupled with a pair of clutch misses at the free-throw line by Taiwan Beer, ultimately cost the Brew Crew the game.
Photo courtesy of the SBL
Liu managed to tie a career high with 28 points on the night, but the birthday boy would rather have celebrated his 23rd birthday with a win.
Dacin Tigers newcomer Reggie Okosa came off a sub-par first half with a stellar second, as he accounted for 10 of his team’s 23 points in the decisive fourth quarter to lift the Cats past their nemeses in a marquis victory.
LUXGENS 65, KINMEN KAOLIANG 50
Overcoming a dismal first quarter in which they were held to eight points, the Yulon Luxgens rallied for 26 points in the fourth to upend Kinmen Kaoliang in the second game in Greater Taichung last night.
The sloppy contest that featured 31 turnovers between the two sides saw the Distillers cling to a 40-39 lead through the third thanks to a solid first half by hired gun Aaron Pettway, who poured in 11 points in the first half.
However, the diehard Luxgens saved their best for last by attacking the basket in a 26-10 scoring differential in the fourth quarter to pull away to a double-digit winning margin.
Chen Chih-chung’s game-high 15 points led a trio of double-digit Luxgen scorers for a side who began the season with back-to-back losses, before winning two straight to even their record at 2-2.
LEOPARDS 64, BANK OF TAIWAN 62
Chen Shih-nian’s tiebreaking field goal with 9.5 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter gave the Taiwan Mobile Cloud Leopards the lead and they held on to the buzzer to defeat Bank of Taiwan and finish the weekend on a high note.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB