Rallying from a double-digit deficit in the second half, the Dacin Tigers tripped up Bank of Taiwan with a superior fourth quarter to escape with a 92-90 triumph at the Banciao Gymnasium in New Taipei City last night for their eighth win of the season.
Chou Yi-hsiang’s clutch drive to the hoop over two Bank of Taiwan defenders with 3.5 seconds remaining on the clock broke a 90-90 tie for the Cats, as they outfought the Financial Wizards in the closing minute to steal the match from the Bankers, who definitely played well enough to win.
“I just tried to do my job with the game on the line and the rest sort of took care of itself,” Chou said of his game-winning shot.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
The budding star for the Tigers ended with 27 points to lift his team past a feisty Bank of Taiwan team that led for most of the game.
“I figured I could at least get to the free throw line on a foul by taking it strong to the hoop, and that is exactly what happened,” added Chou, who hit Bank of Taiwan where it hurt the most by coming up with his own rebound after misfiring from the free throw line with 16.1 seconds on the game clock to give Dacin an extra possession to set up his own game-winner.
Both offenses opened the game by scoring with relative ease thanks to eight quick points by Dacin’s Bryan Davis from close range, compared with the seven points scored by Bank of Taiwan’s Yu Chuen-an.
Bank of Taiwan added to their 21-20 lead after one quarter of play with a 27-point second quarter, highlighted by nine from Chang Po-sheng, to lead 48-39 at the half. Chang nearly became the hero of the contest for Bank of Taiwan, with a big three-pointer to put his team ahead 90-89 prior to Chou’s last-minute magic.
Trailing by as many as 13 in the third, the Tigers chipped away at the deficit with a strong effort by Davis, who accounted for 15 of his team’s 28 points in the quarter to keep Bank of Taiwan’s lead to less than 10, setting the stage for their eventual comeback.
TAIWAN BEER 72, LUXGENS 64
Taiwan Beer also capped off a perfect two-win weekend by topping the Yulon Luxgens in the second game last night.
The win not only avenged a bitter loss to the Automakers in their last meeting a week ago for second-place, but also kept Taiwan Beer within striking distance of top-ranked Pure Youth Construction, who suffered their second loss of the season on Friday in an upset against the Tigers.
Liu Cheng showed off his quick hands with three first-half steals to rally the Brew Crew from a sluggish start that saw them net just 15 points in the opening frame. The league’s premier shooting guard proved his worth by scoring eight of his team’s final 13 points on a season-high 25-point effort to deal the Luxgens their second defeat in as many days.
Yu Yao-hsing on Tuesday nabbed Taiwan’s only goal in the final round of qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, as they fell 3-1 to Sri Lanka at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Early goals from Sri Lanka in the first half left Taiwan struggling to get on the board, and Christopher Tiao’s own goal at 53 minutes sealed the team’s fate in the third round of qualifiers. While acknowledging that the defeat, Taiwan’s sixth in Group D, was disappointing, head coach Matt Ross said he saw reasons to stay positive about the team’s development. “There were lots of positive signs in terms of the
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