While the Fubon Braves and Taiwan Beer have clinched the top spots, the bottom half of the playoff Super Basketball League (SBL) picture remains unclear after the Dacin Tigers on Thursday edged Kinmen Kaoliang to lift themselves into a three-way tie for fourth place.
American point guard O.J. Mayo scored the winning basket with three seconds left in the game to complete a 24-point turnaround for the Tigers, who prevailed over Kinmen 84-83 at Banciao Stadium in New Taipei City.
The eight-year NBA veteran, mostly with the Memphis Grizzlies and Milwaukee Bucks, put on a stellar display to post 37 points in the game, 16 of them in the final quarter, while teammate Lin Yi-hui scored 17 points.
Kinmen Kaoliang had a quick start, scoring 22 and 26 points in the first two quarters to go ahead 48-26 at the intermission and extending the lead to 24 points in the third quarter.
However, Mayo and Lin took charge to gradually narrow the gap, with the Tigers finally catching up with 16 seconds remaining, when Mayo stole the ball and drained a three-pointer to make the score 82-82.
On the next possession, Kinmen’s big American center Garret Siler was fouled, and he made one of two free throws to go up by one with the clock winding down.
Mayo then dribbled inside the paint and went up between two defenders to sink the winning field goal to edge Kinmen by one point.
“When you concentrate on making plays, good things will happen... In the second half, we pushed our game to them and had better concentration, and we were lucky also,” Mayo said after the game.
Siler had a robust game, finishing with a double-20 with 26 points and 22 rebounds, while Croatian forward Zoran Vrkic scored 12 points and secured seven rebounds for Kinmen.
Kinmen knew that they had missed the opportunity to secure fourth place after blowing the big lead.
“The coaches and players all did their job, but we just cannot accept losing the game this way,” Siler said.
Kinmen could have won, but wasted too many chances, he said.
“This is not the result we want... We have the ability to defeat most other SBL teams, but have to improve on keeping the lead,” Siler said.
In Wednesday’s evening match at Banciao Stadium, Pauian Archiland ensured a third-place finish by beating Taiwan Beer 91-87.
Heading into this weekend’s final games, the Braves have secured the top spot, followed by Taiwan Beer and Pauian Archiland.
The Yulon Dinos remain in contention for the final berth, as do the Tigers and Kinmen, with all three tied on 17-18 records and just one game remaining each.
Last night, the top-ranked Braves outlasted Bank of Taiwan 88-80 at Banciao Stadium.
After a relatively close first quarter, the Braves pulled away in the second.
However, the Bankers rallied in the third and continued closing the gap in the final quarter, but the Braves held on to win.
Bank of Taiwan, who were 8-27 before last night’s contest, have been eliminated from post-season contention.
HOMETOWN ZERO: Fans relished the fall of former Brewer-turned-Cubs manager Craig Counsell, as Milwaukee braces to face the Dodgers, who in 2018 denied them a pennant Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy has referred to his team as the “Average Joes,” a nod to their small-market status and lack of big names, but after they beat rivals the Chicago Cubs 3-1 in the decisive fifth game of their National League Division Series (NLDS) on Saturday night, Murphy decided it was time for an upgrade. “You can call them the average Joes, but I say they’re the above-average Joes,” he said. The Brewers relied on contributions from just about every player to get past the Cubs. Andrew Vaughn hit a tiebreaking homer in the fourth inning, and William Contreras and Brice
Mexico’s teenage playmaker Gilberto Mora has lit up the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Chile as he basks in the limelight afforded by the absences of Barcelona and Real Madrid stars Lamine Yamal and Franco Mastantuono. “I don’t know if I’m the biggest star, and I’m not really interested in that. I think you can always give more,” 16-year-old Mora said before Mexico’s 4-1 win against host nation Chile in the round-of-16 on Tuesday, in which he provided the assist for the opening goal. Next on Mora’s schedule is a quarter-final clash against Argentina this morning Taiwan time, but after
‘SOMETHING SPECIAL’: Nathan Lukes hit a two-run single and Addison Barger had three of Toronto’s 12 hits as the Blue Jays bounced back After taking down the storied New York Yankees in their own ballpark in their American League Division Series on Wednesday, Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider was ready to revel in the triumph. “Start spreading the news,” Schneider said while popping a bottle of bubbly to set off the Blue Jays’ jubilant celebration inside their Yankee Stadium clubhouse. With the party under way, the familiar lyrics from Frank Sinatra’s version of New York, New York — the Yankees’ long-time victory anthem — sounded in the background as roaring Toronto players sprayed each other with booze in the Bronx. This time, it was their
‘IT’S BASEBALL’: In just the second error to end a post-season series in the MLB, the Phillies reliever fumbled a comebacker and threw to home, despite the signal Eyes red, Orion Kerkering on Thursday received words of support from his Philadelphia Phillies teammates. “Just keep your head up. It’s an honest mistake. Just, it’s baseball,” he remembered hearing. “You’ll be good for a long time to come,” they added. “It’s not my fault, then. We had opportunities to score,” was the message he kept getting. Kerkering made a wild throw past home plate instead of tossing to first after mishandling Andy Pages’ bases-loaded comebacker with two outs in the 11th inning. Pinch-runner Kim Hye-seong scored and the Phillies were eliminated with a 2-1 loss that gave the Los Angeles Dodgers a
RSS