Bank of Taiwan pulled off a major upset in the Year of the Monkey by stunning second-place d Taiwan Beer in an 80-74 final at the Banciao Gymnasium in New Taipei City last night to force a tie for the fifth-place spot in the standings.
Lee Wei-che and Chen Li-huan made the most of their opportunities to start by downing four points each in the final three minutes of the game to lead the Bankers past a resilient Brew Crew.
The Beermen had rallied from as many as 15 points down in the third quarter to tie the game in the fourth before faltering late in the contest to drop what many had thought to be an easy win for the men in green.
The classic battle between David and Goliath caught many by surprise, as the Bankers opened the match with Chen Kuo-wei and Luke Nevill combining for 15 of their team’s 22 points to lead Taiwan Beer by three after the first quarter.
The Bankers took their game out to the perimeters in the second quarter, with five three-pointers from behind the arc, outscoring Taiwan Beer 24-22 for an unexpected 46-41 advantage at halftime.
Bank of Taiwan managed to up their lead to as much as 15 in the third, with Chang Po-sheng and Chen Hsuan-hsiang netting four each before the Brew Crew went on an 8-2 run of their own to keep the deficit to less than 10 by the end of the period.
That was when the Brew Crew decided to shift into another gear, with Liu Cheng and Lu Chi-min championing a rally that tied the game up with about four minutes left on the clock.
That set up Lee and Chen Li-huan’s late-game heroics as the Bankers held on for the victory.
TIGERS 96, LUXGENS 90
The Dacin Tigers snapped a three-game losing streak against the Yulon Luxgens by edging past the Automakers in a 96-90 final in the second game in New Taipei City last night to close out the weekend on a high note.
Lin Guan-luen scored 19 points in the second half and Bryan Davis got 17 as the Dacin scoring pair teamed up for 36 of their club’s 50 points in the second half, denying the Automakers what would have been a valiant comeback.
A 9-0 run by the Tigers late in the second quarter gave the Cats a 46-41 cushion at halftime in a game that went back and forth between the two squads.
Dacin added another nine to their lead with Lin orchestrating an 8-0 run midway through the third quarter to seemingly put the game out of the Automakers’ reach.
However, the diehard Luxgens were able to answer with an 11-2 run at the start of the fourth quarter to pull within two, with Liam McMorrow getting back-to-back three-pointers.
Their hopes of a victory were shortlived though, with Lin nailing a pair of long balls from downtown and four straight free-throws down the stretch to keep the Luxgens from turning the tide late in the game.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care