Outscoring Taiwan Beer 17-6 in the final seven minutes of play, Bank of Taiwan pulled off a 74-65 upset against the Brew Crew at the Sinjhuang Sports Complex in New Taipei City last night to start their week of play on a high note.
Huang Chia-ming’s long three from downtown with seven minutes remaining in the game turned a 57-59 deficit into a 60-59 lead for the Financial Wizards, their first in the second half, as they rallied from as many as eight down in the fourth quarter to skid past Taiwan Beer.
What should have been an easy win for Taiwan Beer, winners in three of their past four meetings against the Bankers, turned into a dog fight from the get go as the Bankers matched the men in the familiar green uniforms shot-for-shot in a highly competitive first half to settle with a 38-all score at the half.
Photo courtesy of the SBL
Even though Taiwan Beer managed to take leads as large as 8 points in the third, with Liu Cheng and Lu Chi-min combining for 11 points in the quarter, they could not put the game away, with several unforced turnovers to keep the Bankers in the game.
That proved costly for the Brew Crew as the Bankers chipped away at the deficit with a number of second-chance baskets early in the fourth to pull within 2 points and gain the necessary confidence to ultimately turn the table on Taiwan Beer for good.
Having lost their lead in the fourth, Taiwan Beer looked to Liu Cheng to pick up the scoring slack midway through the quarter as the versatile swingman delivered a pair of buckets to give his team a 65-64 lead with three minutes remaining in the contest.
That was the extent that Taiwan Beer was in the game as the Bankers scored 10 unanswered points the rest of the way to run away with the win.
Three players scored in double-digits for the Bankers, led by Chen Hsuan-hsiang’s 18.
As for the Brew Crew, Liu ended up with a season-high 30 points on a night he could do no wrong. However, it was still not enough to carry his team over the hump for the elusive win as no other Taiwan Beer player was able to break the single-digits in scoring in a losing cause.
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