Chen Shih-nian’s clutch three-point play with five seconds left turned a two-point deficit into a one-point lead, enabling the Taiwan Mobile Cloud Leopards to beat the top-ranked Pure Youth Construction 67-66 at the University of Taipei’s Tianmu Gymnasium last night and close the three-game weekend with a perfect 3-0 record.
It was the veteran guard’s second-biggest shot in recent years, behind his title-clinching jumper for Taiwan Beer in the closing seconds of Game 6 in the 2007 Championship Finals that gave the Brew Crew their first-ever league title.
“I knew if I could get past [Quincy Davis], I would be able to get the shot off and that is exactly what happened,” Chen said after the game, referring to his game-winner on a strong drive to the hoop that drew the foul against the Builders’ Davis.
The shot banked off the backboard before going in to see the Leopards finally top the Builders for the first time in four tries.
The showdown between the league’s top two clubs lived up to its billing, with the red-hot Leopards grabbing an early lead before the Builders came back with a strong second quarter to end the first half with a 29-26 advantage.
Nine points by hired gun Luke Nevill of Australia kept the Leopards’ deficit to three in the third as the Builders maintained a small lead nearly the entire fourth before Chen’s clincher.
Nevill ended with a game-high 21 points and 12 rebounds to account for a good chunk of the Leopards’ offensive production.
TAIWAN BEER 87, KINMEN LIQUOR 55
Taiwan Beer bounced back from a devastating loss to the Leopards the night before with a convincing trouncing of Kinmen Liquor in the afternoon game at Tianmu.
The win avenged a bitter loss to the Distillers in their last meeting and strengthened the Brew Crews’ grip on the No. 3 spot.
Poor shooting from behind the three-point arc (1-for-18) and at the free-throw line (16-for-33) by the Distillers made the difference as they self-destructed against a tough Taiwan Beer defense.
In the day’s remaining game, the Dacin Tigers edged the Yulon Luxgens 76-72.
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