The Formosa Dreamers, Taiwan’s team in the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL), on Wednesday had their season ended by Thailand’s Mono Vampire as they were eliminated from a best-of-three first-round playoff series in a narrow 70-68 defeat.
The defeat at Mono Vampire’s home court, Stadium 29 in Nonthaburi just outside Bangkok, ended the dream of title glory for the team, who were the top seeds and had high hopes of making a good run for the championship crown following their first-place regular-season finish in the ABL.
When the season ended last month, the Formosa Dreamers had done Taiwan proud with a 19-7 record, ahead of Philippine powerhouses San Miguel Alab Pilipinas in second on 18-8, the Singapore Slingers in third at 16-10, CLS Knights Indonesia in fourth on 15-11 and Vietnam’s Saigon Heat in fifth at 14-12.
However, Formosa Dreamers’ title dream turned into a nightmare after they lost the first game 83-80 at Changhua County Stadium on Sunday last week and eighth-placed Mono Vampire’s victory on Wednesday completed the upset.
Heading into the series, the Formosa Dreamers were missing two key players: veteran guard Lee Hsueh-lin, sidelined by a knee injury; and the team’s highest scorer, American forward Malcolm Miller, who had been given a one-game ban for accumulated technical fouls in the final two games of the regular season.
On Wednesday, the Formosa Dreamers had sound teamwork to lead most of the way and looked ready to win after American forward Tevin Glass drained a basket for a 68-66 lead with 38 seconds left.
However, fouls gave Mono Vampire a chance to even the score, with American forward Mike Singletary hitting two free throws.
The Formosa Dreamers defense then faltered and the hosts’ other American forward, Romeo Travis, scored the game-winner in the dying seconds.
Travis finished with 10 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists, while Singletary had a game-high 24 points, including five three-pointers, as well as 10 rebounds.
Miller put in an outstanding performance on his return from suspension with a double-double, scoring 20 points and securing 11 rebounds, in addition to four blocks.
However, some players and coaches yesterday cried foul over the result, saying that the officiating was biased against them.
“All I can say is ... it was ‘black whistle’ [by the officials]. All of our great efforts this season have gone to waste,” assistant coach Tsai Yao-hsun wrote on Facebook.
Some players complained of officials favoring Mono Vampire in decisions, saying that they were fast to call fouls against the Formosa Dreamers throughout the two games.
However, Travis was quoted as saying: “We just came here with the mentality of just never say die. We didn’t want to go back to Taiwan.”
“We made a lot of mistakes, but we made plays when it counted most,” he added.
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