Pauian Archiland made history by winning their fifth championship title in franchise history, after defeating the Fubon Braves 78-73 to win their SBL finals series 4-2 at Sinjhuang Gymnasium in New Taipei City.
With the win, Ben Metcalf has become the first American head coach to capture the SBL championship, and in doing so, Archiland’s five rings have surpassed the four titles held by the Yulon Dinos and Taiwan Beer.
Center Quincy Davis and forward Douglas Creighton made big plays throughout the match to keep Archiland in the lead most of the game, but Fubon narrowed the deficit to within two points with two minutes remaining.
Davis then deflated Fubon’s rally with a slam dunk, and after both sides traded field goals, Archiland’s Wu Tai-hao hit another dunk to ensure the final outcome.
Creighton netted 14 points and Davis recorded a double-double with 21 points and 15 rebounds.
For his all-around efforts, Davis was honored with the championship series MVP award.
Ironically, Metcalf was Fubon coach Hsu Chin-tse’s assistant when Archiland won their four consecutive titles from 2012 to 2015, but has now led Archiland’s triumph over his former mentor.
“It was tough. They never gave up and we had a very competitive series,” Davis said after the game, thanking the fans for their support. “I really enjoy playing here as a Taiwanese citizen, and our team worked hard and stayed focused.”
In Game 5 on Saturday, an all-Taiwanese Fubon snatched a big 73-69 win from Pauian in what has been hailed a “miracle game.”
Fubon forwards Tsai Wen-cheng and Chang Tsung-hsien were pivotal with their stellar performances, along with key contributions from guard Joseph Lin and reserve forward Liu Wei-cheng.
Tsai had the team-high 15 points and eight rebounds, along with four assists, seven blocks and three steals.
Archiland rallied in the final quarter to level the score, but it was Chang’s three-pointer with 42 seconds remaining that put Fubon ahead for good.
Chang and Liu both posted 11 points, while Lin, Jeremy Lin’s younger brother, scored 10.
For Archiland, Creighton hit five from three-point range to add to his 19 points overall, while Davis netted seven points and grabbed 17 rebounds.
Fubon’s big American center Garret Siler tore his shoulder and could not play in the game, leaving the team without a key player, Hsu said.
Hsu said that according to SBL rules, he could have applied to have Kinmen Kaoliang’s Puerto Rican center Peter Ramos replace Siler, “but we decided to go with an all-Taiwanese lineup to have a fast-running game and to rotate the bench when the starters needed a rest — and it worked.”
“Siler is a key member of our team. It’s unfair to replace him at this juncture,” he added.
“Most people did not rate us, but we knocked the Dacin Tigers and Yulon Dinos out in the playoffs. Siler has been with us throughout, has made great contributions and played with pain these past weeks, so if we replace him now, it is not respectful to him, and we want him to remain no matter what happens,” Hsu said.
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