Holding Taiwan Beer to nine points in the decisive third quarter, Bank of Taiwan rallied from a halftime deficit to run away with a 71-68 win at the Hsinchu Municipal Gymnasium last night to pick up their fifth win of the year.
Newcomer Rod Benson played his best game since joining the Bankers earlier in the week by netting eight of his team’s 19 points in the game-turning third quarter to give the financial wizards the lead.
That was the confidence booster Bank of Taiwan needed to deal the Brew Crew their second straight defeat in as many days after their disheartening loss to Pure Youth Construction on a buzzer-beating basket the night before.
Taiwan Beer began the weekend with the league’s best mark, but has since dropped two in a row by a total margin of five points to settle for the No. 3 spot in the standings.
BRAVES 86, TIGERS 83
The Fubon Braves took advantage of a long injury absence by the Dacin Tigers’ Norvel Pelle in the second half to rally past the Cats 86-83 in the weekend finale in Hsinchu last night.
Pelle was off the court for more than five minutes late in the third after suffering an injury to his right wrist with the Tigers leading the Braves by 11.
However, Fubon made sure he would be sorely missed by punching the ball inside the paint with big man Darian Townes doing as he pleased to not only reduce the deficit, but actually take the lead.
Even though Pelle would return midway through the fourth with his team trailing, it was too little, too late against the second-ranked team in the league as they fell short by three in a narrow defeat.
Townes racked up 38 points and 19 rebounds in a dominating effort to miss his fourth double-20 performance of the season by a lone rebound.
KINMEN KAOLIANG 96, LUXGENS 84
Kinmen Kaoliang roughed up the Yulon Luxgens with a brilliant first half and went on to beat the Automakers in a 96-84 final in Hsinchu yesterday afternoon.
An 18-2 start by the Distillers set the tone early in the game as they outplayed the three-time champions in every facet of the game in a 27-point first quarter to enjoy a 17-point cushion and never looked back.
Bryan Davis bounced back from a subpar effort on Saturday with a 41-point outing to help the Distillers in a game that Yulon center Aaron Pettway fouled out late in the third quarter to leave the interior defense vulnerable to Kinmen Kaoliang’s inside attack.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two