New Taipei City’s Hsing Wu University cashed in on mistakes made by National Taiwan University of Science and Technology late in the game to beat their rivals 79-72 in Taipei yesterday and remain in contention during the second round of the University Basketball Association (UBA) tournament.
Winless in their first two games, Hsing Wu desperately needed a victory against the Techies to keep their hope for a top-six finish alive.
The Taipei side were also seeking their first win, but although they managed to hang tough with Hsing Wu for more than 30 minutes, they stumbled in the fourth to lose by seven.
An inability to handle the defensive pressure Hsing Wu instituted in the second half set the Techies back more than 10 points early in the fourth.
Even though they were able to pull within seven of their rivals with less than a minute to play, that was as close as they got.
The Taipei team’s loss was their fourth straight since Sunday afternoon’s second-round opener and virtually eliminated them from the top-six finish that they need to make it into the medal round.
Chinese Culture 72, NTU Sport 70
Huang Yu-wen’s clutch floater in the last seconds of the fourth broke a 70-all tie for Taipei’s Chinese Culture University and saw them top Greater Taichung’s National Taiwan University of Physical Education and Sport by 2 points yesterday afternoon to stay in the hunt for the medal round.
Victims of a last-minute collapse in a tough three-point loss to Greater Kaohsiung’s I-Shou University the night before, Chinese Culture are all too familiar with late-game dramas.
Yet the basketball gods were definitely on Chinese Culture’s side yesterday as they ousted the defending champs to regain some much needed momentum for the three games left in the grueling seven-game second round.
KAOHSIUNG NORMAL 89, NTU ARTS 84
National Kaohsiung Normal University shook off a feisty National Taiwan University of Arts squad in the final two minutes of the game to escape with the win last night.
Also yesterday, it was:
‧ National Taiwan Normal University 75, Mingdao 59
‧ National Taiwan Sport University 85, Fu Jen Catholic 72
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