A double-20 effort by Quincy Davis led the way for top-ranked Pure Youth Construction as they rallied from a second-half deficit with a strong finish to upend Taiwan Beer in an 87-79 final at the Hsinchu Municipal Gymnasium yesterday afternoon.
The all-star center, who had not seen much floor time in a pair of blowout wins for the two-time defending champs last week, finally got the minutes he needed to prove his worth with 23 points and 21 rebounds to humble the Brew Crew.
Even though his counterpart, Patrick O’Bryant, also had a big day at the office with 20 points and 18 boards, Taiwan Beer’s lack of late-game poise was once again fully exploited by the Builders.
“We had two excellent quarters against [Pure Youth], but with the game on the line, [Pure Youth] still had the upper hand on us,” a disappointed Taiwan Beer head coach Yen Chia-hua said after the game.
His troops enjoyed a five-point lead at the half against the top squad in the league, but faltered in the third to fall short by eight at the close.
Thirteen quick points by Liu Chan propelled the Brew Crew to a surprising 22-14 lead in the first 10 minutes of play. However, the Builders would regain their composure with a 24-point second quarter to keep the deficit a manageable five at the half.
Pure Youth outscored the Brew Crew 25-14 in the decisive third to claim a lead and held on with a strong fourth for the win.
Two players scored 20 or more points on the day for Taiwan Beer, led by Liu’s game-high 25.
It was still not enough to lift them past the Builders, who placed four double-digit scorers that proved too tough for Taiwan Beer to handle.
LEOPARDS 75, LUXGENS 64
The Taiwan Mobile Cloud Leopards capitalized on a sloppy second quarter on the part of the Yulon Luxgens to grab a 10-point lead and held on to win the match 75-64 in the second game in Hsinchu last night.
Poor shot selection by Yulon that resulted in a dismal five-for-17 shooting in the second quarter gave the Leopards just the right window of opportunity to hurt their opponents from the perimeter.
The Leopards shot a solid 10-for-18 from the field, including four threes, to create the scoring separation necessary to trip up the Automakers.
In other play, it was:
‧ Tigers 83, Bank of Taiwan 72
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