It was supposed to be the game of the week, with the second-place slot in the Super Basketball League standings at stake and the league's top two scorers playing head-to-head on center stage.
But Sunday's showdown at the Taipei Physical Education College Gymnasium between the Dacin Tigers and Taiwan Beer was not even close to being close, as the Tigers took a double-digit, second-quarter lead en route to a 100-72 win.
The much-anticipated battle between the league's top two scorers, Tien Lei of the Tigers and Taiwan Beer's Lin Chih-jeh also didn't fully materialize, with Tien getting the upper hand on a 27-point and 19-rebound night, compared to Lin's 16 points and seven boards.
PHOTO COURTESY OF SBL
Tigers guard Chang Chih-fong set a new career-high mark by ringing up 36 points and 12 rebounds.
"I never considered us to be a top-tier club with the kind of inconsistency that still exists in our performance," Taiwan Beer coach Yen Jia-hua said.
Taiwan Beer fell behind by a dozen in the second quarter, as it tried to play catch-up by throwing up hurried three-pointers that ended up being bad misses.
After a hard fought first quarter that had the Tigers leading 22-18, the beermen had only five points in over six minutes of play to help the Tigers build a 48-36 advantage by the half.
The Tigers tried to make up lost ground in the middle of the third quarter, attempting 15 rushed threes and making only two.
Bank of Taiwan 94, Dinos 101
Bank of Taiwan's bid to wrap up its first-ever postseason berth fell a few points short as it dropped a 101-94 decision to the Yulon Dinos.
Following their narrow victory over YMY to achieve a winning record (14-13) on Friday night, the high-flying bankers seemed ready to clinch their first-ever postseason appearance by beating the Dinos.
The bankers played shoulder-to-shoulder with the defending champs, trading leads until the final minute of the game, when a key offensive rebound off a missed free throw by the Dinos' Lee Hsueh-lin denied the bankers a chance to force a tie with less than a minute left.
Dinos All-Star center Tseng Wen-ding made the most of a porous bankers' interior defense that appeared more committed to stopping the Dinos perimeter attack, by dominating the low-post area for a season-high 44 points. Tseng also accounted for six blocked shots on defense.
Tseng's monstrous game not only helped his team to stretch its winning streak to five straight, it secured a first-place finish for the Dinos in the regular season with a 21-6 record and three more games left to play.
"The bankers are definitely a team to be reckoned with," Dinos coach Lee Yun-kuan said.
In the interest of not interfering with the annual University Basketball Association tournament, the SBL will take a four-week break before resuming play on April 7.
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