Pure Youth Construction made it two wins in a row by topping Kinmen Kaoliang 81-71 at the Sinjhuang Sports Complex in New Taipei City yesterday afternoon to reclaim top spot in the standings.
Having dropped to second behind the Fubon Braves on Friday night after the Braves defeated Taiwan Beer, the Builders entered yesterday’s game with one thing on their minds — to win and regain their position at the top of the league.
That is exactly what they did against a red-hot Kinmen Kaoliang squad who had won four of their past five. Pure Youth held the Distillers to only 12 points in the first quarter and 32 points at the half, taking a six-point lead despite the absence of big man Quincy Davis.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
Even though Pure Youth did not extend their lead in an evenly fought third, they were able to induce the fourth foul on Kinmen Kaoliang power forward Bryan Davis early in the fourth to compromise his effectiveness and eventually get him to foul out with five minutes to go.
The Builders immediately exploited the weakened Kinmen Kaoliang interior defense, punching in the ball inside the paint in what ended up being a 10-2 run to put the game beyond doubt.
The Distillers also did their part to help the Builders down the stretch with a technical foul on Davis giving Pure Youth two free throws and an extra possession.
While the win was great news for the Builders, they were struck with the possibility of losing Quincy Davis for the remainder of the season with a herniated disc that might be more serious than initially thought.
“We have not made any decisions as far as replacing [Davis] yet, but it is a possibility,” Pure Youth head coach Hsu Chin-che was quoted as saying in Chinese-language reports regarding his star player.
Luxgens 75, Taiwan Beer 83
Taiwan Beer bounced back from a tough loss to the Braves the night before with an 83-75 trouncing of the Yulon Luxgens later yesterday.
With the No. 3 spot in the standings on the line, the Brew Crew came out firing with 20 points in the opening frame to lead the Automakers 20-12 after the first quarter and blew the game wide open in the third, holding leads as large as 20.
Even though Yulon showed tremendous resilience in reducing the deficit to as few as five in the fourth, it was too little too late as Taiwan Beer’s Patrick O’Bryant converted all six of his free-throw attempts in the final minute.
Bank of Taiwan 66, Dacin Tigers 61
Bank of Taiwan held the Dacin Tigers scoreless for over six minutes of play to take a 12-0 lead and never looked back as they roughed up the Cats in the nightcap, their sixth win of the season.
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