Kinmen Kaoliang and Taiwan Beer emerged the top dogs from this weekend’s Super Basketball League matchups, before all seven teams take time off for the winter break.
In yesterday’s thriller, Bank of Taiwan edged out Pauian Archiland by one point to win 103-102 at Taipei’s Tianmu Gymnasium.
In the final seconds of a see-saw final quarter, Bank of Taiwan’s American forward Angel Nunez drained a three-pointer to seal the win.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
Nunez, a former standout at the University of Southern Florida, had a game-high of 39 points and pulled down nine rebounds.
He was on a shooting streak, hitting 15 of 24 attempts, including four of seven in three-point range, while compatriot and teammate Joseph Taylor added 20 points and nine rebounds.
Guard Chang Bo-sheng contributed 15 points and forward Lin Ren-hong put up 14 to help Bank of Taiwan rack up their fifth win of the season.
Pauian Archiland’s Thomas Tan and Kyle Meyer each put up 17 points, while Atlanta native Meyer added 11 rebounds to make his a double-double.
Also at the Tianmu Gymnasium last night, the Yulon Luxgen Dinos netted 15 three-pointers to thrash the Fubon Braves 105-75.
Tianmu Gymnasium was also the scene of Saturday’s matchup, in which Taiwan Beer prevailed over Kinmen Kaoliang 92-87.
The win puts Taiwan Beer (15-9) within half a game of table leader Kinmen Kaoliang (16-9), who went into the winter break having played an additional game.
In Saturday’s other game, the Dacin Tigers edged out the Yulon Luxgen Dinos 89-87, putting the Tigers in fifth place.
After the Lunar New Year and Lantern Festival holidays, action in the league is to resume on Feb. 21 with two games at the Taoyuan County Stadium.
In other basketball news, Taiwan’s Formosa Dreamers capitalized on two crucial wins over the past seven days, putting them in second place in the ASEAN Basketball League.
On Sunday last week, the Dreamers beat Hong Kong Eastern 92-86 at Hong Kong’s Southorn Stadium. Then, on Thursday, the Dreamers headed to Macau, where they racked up their 10th win of the season, a 122-116 triumph over the Macau Black Bears.
The second-placed Dreamers (10-5) have turned around their performance, which landed them at the bottom of the table last season. Only San Miguel Alab Pilipinas (9-2) sit higher on the table, while Saigon Heat of Vietnam (10-5) share their second-place spot.
TOOTHLESS: Bologna never looked like finding a way back, and Antonio Conte and his substitutes were waiting to celebrate long before the final whistle SSC Napoli on Monday lifted the Italian Supercoppa with a 2-0 win over Bologna in Riyadh, David Neres netting both goals to earn the league champions a deserved victory over the toothless Coppa Italia winners. Neres opened the scoring with a stunning strike from distance six minutes before halftime and found the net again in the 57th minute when Bologna were caught trying to play out of defense. “We came here as champions of Italy, we wanted this trophy and we showed it with a great performance,” Napoli forward Matteo Politano told Mediaset. “We could have scored a few more goals, but
Backup quarterback Luke Weaver on Wednesday night threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Nick Cenacle with 10 seconds left, as the University of Hawaii rallied for a 35-31 comeback victory over the University of California, Berkeley in a thrilling Hawaii Bowl. Weaver entered the game after Micah Alejado took a hard hit on the previous play. With the Rainbow Warriors (9-4) in range for a tying field goal, coach Timmy Chang took a shot at the end zone, and Cenacle got between two defensive backs and made the contested catch. “How amazing is that?” Chang said. “It’s a program that is built
Hosts Morocco on Friday were held to a 1-1 draw by Mali at the Africa Cup of Nations, ending their world record run of wins and leaving them still to make sure of progress to the next stage. Midfielder Brahim Diaz tucked away a penalty in stoppage-time at the end of the first half, but Mali equalized from the spot midway through the second half through Lassine Sinayoko. Both penalties were awarded after video reviews in a tempestuous clash at the end of a busy day of action at the tournament. Morocco were atop the Group A standings with four points, while Zambia,
An astounding 20 wickets fell on a frantic first day of the fourth Ashes Test yesterday, with Australia all out for 152 before storming back to dismiss England for 110 and leave the clash on a knife-edge. England skipper Ben Stokes won a key toss on a green track and his quicks feasted after sending in the hosts under overcast skies in front of 94,199 fans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. It was the biggest cricket crowd ever at the cavernous arena, exceeding the 93,013 who watched the 2015 World Cup final, and they witnessed the home side collapse with Josh Tongue