Bank of Taiwan last night made it two wins in a row by dominating Kinmen Kaoliang in a 77-58 blowout at the Banciao Gymnasium in New Taipei City to close out a perfect 2-0 weekend on a high note.
Luke Nevill led a Banker attack against a vulnerable Kinmen Kaoliang interior defense — which was missing the service of big man Kyle Barone who was out with a knee injury — by connecting from short range on a 23-point, 18-rebound night. The Australian playmaker was well on his way to a double-20 effort before skipper Hung Chun-cheng pulled him off the floor for a good part of the fourth to rest his top gun.
Also starring was Chang “Trumpet” Po-sheng, who came off the Bankers’ bench with three three-pointers from downtown on a 15-point effort to pick up the scoring slack left by team captain Chen Hsuan-hsiang, who managed to score only four points, well below his season average of 10.3.
“Regardless of what lineup [Kinmen Kaoliang] put on the floor, we just wanted to do our best, and that’s all that matters,” Chang said after the game.
His season-high 11 boards also came just at the right time to further expose the Distillers’ injury-plagued roster, which was also missing veterans Shang Wei-fan and Yang Che-yi.
What should have been a fairly even match between the sixth and seventh-place squads in the league was all Bankers from the get-go, with Chang Po-wei and Nevill combining for 18 of their team’s 22 points in the first quarter to lead Kinmen Kaoliang 22-16 after one quarter of play.
That was the extent to which the Distillers were in the game, as the Bankers hit their opponents where it hurt the most by holding Kinmen Kaoliang to four points in the first six minutes of play in the second quarter on an 18-4 run to blow the game wide open.
Trouble continued for Kinmen Kaoliang in the third, with the Bankers outplaying them in every facet of the game to widen the deficit to 30 points, making the outcome of the game a foregone conclusion long before the final buzzer sounded.
FUBON BRAVES 82, TAIWAN BEER 78
The Fubon Braves also won their second game in as many days by edging past Taiwan Beer in the second game in New Taipei City last night to improve to 7-10 for the season.
Earl Barron led all scorers by netting 37 to tie his own season-high mark, 19 of which came in the decisive fourth for the Braves to keep the Brew Crew from what would have been an incredible comeback that saw them rally from a 12-point deficit in the second quarter to pull to within two points with less than 2 minutes to play in the game.
“I am just trying to win it, with my team having a lot of confidence in me,” Barron said after the game.
Taiwan Beer’s loss was their second consecutive defeat following Friday night’s bitter beating at the hands of the Bankers.
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