Reggie Okosa scored a game-high 28, Lin Guan-luen followed with 25 more, and the Dacin Tigers overcame a sluggish start to upend the Yulon Luxgens 83-73 at the National Taiwan University of Physical Education and Sport Gymnasium in Taichung last night to secure the fourth and final playoff berth.
With their post-season fate on the line, the Cats rode the coattails of their top two offensive weapons — Okosa’s solid inside play and Lin’s deadly perimeter game — to fend off a tough Yulon squad in a valiant outing.
Yulon came out firing with a 10-2 run in the first 2.5 minutes of the game to force the Tigers to call a timeout.
The stoppage of play proved to be critical, as the Tigers came out of the timeout like a different team by going on a 17-11 run of their own to keep it a two-point game after one quarter of play.
That was the beginning of a long night for the Luxgens, as the Tigers found a way to contain Lu Cheng-rue and hold the sharpshooter scoreless in the second quarter after a 10-point first to enjoy a 39-33 advantage at the half.
Nine points by Yulon’s Chou Shih-yuan kept the Dacin lead under 10 as they rallied to within three of the Tigers with less than a minute to play in the third.
That was as close as they got, as Lin nailed a clutch three from downtown before Tien Lei followed with a pair of free-throws in a 8-0 run to dampen the Yulon rally en route to a comfortable 10-point victory.
BANK OF TAIWAN 75, TAIWAN BEER 69
Bank of Taiwan closed out their season on a high note with a 75-69 upset win over playoff-bound Taiwan Beer in Taichung yesterday afternoon.
Chen Guo-wei was the man of the hour for the Financial Wizards, who settled with the last-place finish for the second time in the past three seasons with a disappointing 6-24 record, by netting 15 points and eight rebounds for his team.
His pair of clutch rebounds off the offensive glass in the closing seconds of the game kept the Brew Crew from gaining possession of the ball in a late-game comeback attempt.
Also starring for the Bankers was big man Liam McMorrow, whose first season in Taiwan came to a crashing end with a game-high 22 points and 13 boards. The American center’s future with the Bankers remains uncertain, even though he has shown steady progress to make a case to extend his tenure with the team.
Resting their star center and top offensive threat Patrick O’Bryant in the interest of protecting their most valuable team asset was Taiwan Beer, who dropped their first regular-season game against the Bankers in five meetings as the outcome of the contest carried no bearings on their post-season stance.
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