Behind the stellar shooting by Peng Chun-yen, top-seeded Pure Youth Construction overwhelmed the Yulon Luxgens 93-83 to win Game 2 of the semi-finals at the University of Taipei Gymnasium in Tianmu last night, leveling the best-of-seven series at one win apiece.
The reserve guard made the most of his first career postseason start by converting five of eight from behind the three-point arc on a 21-point night to carry the Builders out of the shadow from Saturday night’s devastating loss in which Yulon pulled off a buzzer-beater to top the three-time defending champs 79-78.
“[Yulon] did not think I would shoot it from outside, so they played me quite soft, which gave me a couple of open shots,” Peng said after the game.
Photo courtesy of the SBL
His outstanding performance will likely earn him another start in tomorrow’s Game 3.
“We really needed this one to keep our poise and confidence,” Pure Youth skipper Hsu Chin-che said after the game.
His club was well on their way to a come-from-behind victory in Saturday night’s series-opener with an apparent go-ahead basket by Chen Chien-en with half a second on the clock, only to have the Luxgens come back to win it on a desperation shot by Herve Lamizana in midair to defeat them.
So the Builders made sure history would not repeat itself by outscoring the Automakers 25-11 in the opening frame and led by as many as 24 in the second quarter before closing out the first half with a 43-29 advantage.
Even though the Luxgens chipped away at the deficit witth Chou Shih-yuan and Lamizana teaming up for 15 points in a 29-point burst in the third quarter, falling within four of the Builders at one point, the three-time defending champions made sure that was as close as Yulon got, as they outplayed the Automakers in the fourth quarter to run away with a double-digit victory.
Failure to secure the backboard was to blame for Yulon, who allowed the Builders to crash the boards on both ends of the floor to lose the rebounding battle by a whopping 43-29 margin.
TAIWAN BEER 71, BRAVES 70
In the other semi-final contest in Tianmu, Taiwan Beer rallied from a double-digit deficit in the second half to edge past the Fubon Braves in a 71-70 thriller to even their series at one win each.
Patrick O’Bryant’s clutch two with under a minute to play turned a 69-70 deficit into a 71-70 lead for the Brew Crew.
Trailing by one with less than 20 seconds on the clock, the Braves actually had a chance to win it with their final possession.
However, Cheng Ren-wei lost the ball on his drive to the hoop for the Braves with the clock winding down to miss the opportunity for a potential comeback.
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