Led by Chou Shih-yuan’s game-high 28 points, Team Gold took an early double-digit lead and held on for their dear life to defeat Team Red by a 118-115 margin in this year’s All-Star Game at the Sinjhuang Sports Complex in New Taipei City last night.
The veteran shooting guard for the Yulon Luxgens, who has not been as consistent as he had been in the past, bombarded the basket like there was no tomorrow with spectacular 12-for-19 shooting from the field, including a stunning four-for-five effort from behind the three-point arc, to lead Team Gold past their foes in the SBL’s mid-season classic.
Team Gold, consisting of the top players from the Taiwan Mobile Cloud Leopards, the Luxgens and the Dacin Tigers, played a close first quarter against the best from Pure Youth Construction, Taiwan Beer, Kinmen Liquor and Bank of Taiwan for Team Red.
Liu Chan of Taiwan Beer showed off his tremendous range and leaping ability with a pair of threes and several monstrous slams and Chou matching his brilliance every step of the way with numerous perimeter shots.
However, the scale slowly tipped in favor of Team Gold, with Chou carrying on his shooting clinic in the second quarter to help his club build a double-digit advantage at the half.
Team Gold managed to keep the lead at eight or more over the next17 minutes, before Quincy Davis of Pure Youth and Chen Tzu-wei of the Leopards combined for 8 points in a 6-1 run over the final two minutes of play to pull Team Red within three of Team Gold with less than 25 seconds remaining on the clock.
Trailing by three, Team Red had an opportunity to tie the game with Chen’s long three-point attempt.
However, the normally sure-handed failed to connect with the game on the line to leave his team three points shy of a chance to force the contest into overtime.
Chou was named the game’s Most Valuable Player for his outstanding shooting, while Liu’s tenacious desire to attack the basket left a long-lasting impression for the 3000-plus fans on hand.
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