Lu Cheng-rue's 31 game-high points total along with Tseng Wen-ding's 28 propelled the Yulon Dinos to a 111-93 blowout win over the Dacin Tigers in Game 3 of first-round playoff action at the Taipei Physical Education College Gymnasium on Sunday evening.
The win not only avoided what would have been an embarrassing series-sweep by the fourth-seeded Tigers but also forced the series into a highly anticipated Game 4.
Having lost the first two games by a point each, the Dinos showed an uncanny determination to win early in the contest by scoring 23 first-quarter points before they tacked on 26 more in the second to finish the first half with a 49-45 lead.
PHOTO: LIN CHENG-KUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Over-anxiousness to fight back on the Tigers part led to several rushed shots in the decisive third as they fell behind by as many as 15 points against a Dinos zone defense that held them to a measly 16 points during the quarter. While the defense held its ground against the Tigers attack, the Dinos offense had its way against the Tigers defense with Tseng tearing up the inside of the paint and Lu hitting from long range to put the game away long before the final quarter began.
Five different players scored in double-digits for the Dinos with Lu and Tseng's combined 59 points leading the way.
Only three players scored ten points or more for the Tigers with Tien Lei leading the pack with 30 points and nine rebounds. After their two narrow one-point wins over the defending champs on Friday and Saturday, reality finally hit them as they prepare to come out strong in Game 4 to accomplish an unprecedented championship-series appearance by a fourth-seeded side.
Taiwan Beer 80, Hunters 73
Taiwan Beer reclaimed a one-game lead in the other first-round playoffs series with a victory over the Videoland Hunters on Sunday night to put itself one game short of another championship-series appearance.
As he had done throughout the regular season, team leader Lin "the Beast" Chih-jeh racked up 33 points to lead his Taiwan Beer side, that held top Hunters scorer Jonathan Sanders to just eleven points (his second lowest point production of the year), en route to the emotional win.
Playing their "A" game from the get go, the Taiwan Beer poured in 25 points to lead the second-seeded Hunters 25-19 after the first quarter of play before upping the advantage by as many as a dozen.
That was when the Hunters' Wu Yong-ren upped his game a notch by scoring his team's final nine points of the second quarter to keep the Hunters within striking distance of Taiwan Beer in a 44-39 half-time score.
The Hunters reduced the gap and actually went 65-64 ahead early in the fourth before Taiwan Beer emerged once again with a three-point play the old fashion way followed by a monstrous three in the closing minutes to nail the win.
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
Batting great Virat Kohli yesterday announced his immediate retirement from Test cricket, just days before India name their squad for a tour to England. Kohli, who scored 9,230 runs in 123 matches at an average of 46.85, posted his decision on Instagram five days after India captain Rohit Sharma called time on his own Test career. Since making his debut in 2011, Kohli struck 30 hundreds and 31 fifties with a highest score of 254 not out, mainly batting at number four in the order. “It’s been 14 years since I first wore the baggy blue in Test cricket,” the
RSS