Back-to-back victories over the Videoland Hunters and the Sina Lions in last weekend's play brought the once-struggling ETTV Antelopes back to life and into playoff contention as they boosted their record to 9-10 with 11 games remaining in the regular season.
Friday's 88-81 overtime win against the second-placed Hunters provided a huge emotional lift for the Antelopes .
In Sunday's contest, the Antelopes took on the role of the predator as they exploited a short-handed Lions' squad that was missing its center Liu Yi-shiang, who was out with an injury, winning 82-52.
The Lions' interior defense was no match for the Antelopes' All-Star center Wu Dai-hao, who chalked up up 17 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots.
Guard Yang Yu-ming led all scorers with 19 points.
The Lions (2-17) were winless for the week.
HUNTERS 85, TAIWAN BEER 80
Sinking four of the last six shots from the charity stripe, the Hunters turned back a tenacious rally by Taiwan Beer to preserve the 85-80 win.
Lin Chih-jeh and Ho Sho-cheng both had big games, scoring 27 and 25 points, respectively. But their inability to work together on offense in the final minutes of the game led to hurried shots and bad passes.
"I wish some of our guys would not hog the ball as much as they did," Taiwan Beer coach Yen Jia-hua said after the game. "Putting up bad shots also hurt us."
Yulon 92, Bank of Taiwan 73
Close play in the first half against the Bank of Taiwan on Saturday prompted Yulon Dinos coach Lee Yun-kuan to put all his regular starters back into the game.
His intention to rest the starting five during most of the first half might have offered false hope to the bankers as they played the Dinos to a 37-35 halftime lead.
The Dinos would quickly regroup to pour in 52 points during the second half, their second-highest point total in a half for the year, to pull away with the 92-73 triumph.
Dinos 73, Tigers 72
In their weekend finale against the Dacin Tigers, the Dinos broke the 72-72 tie with 2.8 seconds left to play with Lee Hsueh-lin's free throw.
The second-year guard intentionally missed the second free throw to deny the Tigers a chance for a set play following the shot, giving the defending champs a nail-biting 73-72 win.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
The Minnesota Timberwolves, with so many promising performances spoiled by late mistakes fresh in their memory bank, sure timed this strong finish well. Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota’s stifling defense on an ailing Luka Doncic, and the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday night. “Jaden never looks tired. He looks like he could play 48 minutes,” said teammate Anthony Edwards, who had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
RSS