After nearly squandering a 23-point lead at one point in the first half, second-seeded Taiwan Beer held off a late-game rally by top-seeded Pure Youth Construction by converting six straight free throws to take Game 3 of the Super Basketball League Finals by an 82-77 margin at the Kaohsiung Feng Shan Gymnasium last night.
It was the second straight win that the Brew Crew registered after dropping the opener in Kaohsiung on Saturday evening as they took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series, two wins shy of their fourth league title in franchise history.
DOMINANT START
Taiwan Beer came out firing, with Liu Cheng leading the way in the opening frame by nailing three threes in an 11-point effort to help his side establish a lead over the four-time defending champions by a surprising 23-8 score.
The versatile swingman for the Brew Crew would end the night with 23 points to go along with fellow center Patrick O’Bryant’s game-high 25 to account for the bulk of their team’s offensive production.
Even though the Builders found their shooting range in the second quarter with 20 points, it was not nearly enough against the Taiwan Beer attack that poured in 23 in the second quarter to grab a 46-28 advantage at the half.
RALLY
Down by 18, Pure Youth began their comeback attempt by rolling off a 10-0 run in the third quarter to halve the Taiwan Beer lead to nine by the end of the quarter and actually came as close as within two with less than a minute to play in the game.
That was as close as they got as Taiwan Beer converted their free throws down the stretch to keep it a two-possession game and came up with a crucial steal on an inbound pass by Pure Youth with 14 seconds remaining in the contest to seal the victory.
The two teams will have today off to travel north and prepare for tomorrow night’s Game 4 showdown at the Sinjhuang Sports Complex in New Taipei City (tip-off scheduled for 7pm) in which a win by Taiwan Beer would give them a commanding 3-1 advantage, while a loss would breathe new life into the Builders.
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