Taiwan Beer avenged an embarrassing loss to the Dmedia Numen on Dec. 23 with an 84-74 triumph at the National Taiwan College of Physical Education in Taichung on Saturday night to regain a winning record at 4-3 for the season.
After a humbling defeat at the hands of the Numen a week ago that sparked talks of the defending champs having lost their winning edge with players getting more coverage on the entertainment page instead of the sports page, the rematch between the two squads was all-business as the beer crew successfully contained the Numen's Jonathan Sanders to clinch the big win.
"We knew we were getting a little ahead of ourselves with all those extracurricular activities off the court, so I told the entire team basketball is what got us here," Taiwan Beer head coach Yen Jia-hua said after the game, referring to a few of his players' involvement with certain pop stars and some questionable judgments on their conduct.
PHOTO: YEN CHAO-YANG, TAIPEI TIMES
Since winning the title in June, the ever-popular Taiwan Beer team has transformed from an SBL club that attracts mostly high school-aged kids into a walking billboard appealing to all ages, with several multi-million dollar endorsement contracts that has made instant celebrity out of several members on the team.
The contest began with Taiwan Beer enjoying an early 23-19 advantage after the initial quarter on the strength of seven quick points by Yang Jing-min.
Though the Numen would try to close the gap with the perimeter game of top shooter Ouyang Jin-hen, a slew of unforced errors would keep their rallies from being full-blown comebacks.
Stellar efforts by Lin Guan-luen with eight points in the final three minutes of the third against his former team would bring the Numen to within a point of Taiwan Beer.
But that was as close as Dmedia got with Sanders hampered by four fouls and Yang exploiting that weakness to the fullest with 13 second-half points.
DINOS 81, BANK OF TAIWAN 71
Chen "Airman" Hsin-an proved his indispensability by downing 14 points in the final quarter to preserve an 81-71 win for the Yulon Dinos against Bank of Taiwan on Saturday evening.
The heavily-favored Dinos, who started only two of their regular starters, found themselves leading only by a deuce in the first half with the bankers playing a brilliant second quarter to keep pace with the league-leaders.
After the Dinos went with their regular starting five to extend their lead back to eight in a high-scoring third, Bank of Taiwan's Jien Ming-fu would connect for a pair of three's to make it a two-point game.
LEOPARDS 78, PURE YOUTH 59
Taiwan Mobile Leopards snapped a four-game losing skid by topping Pure Youth Constructions in a 78-59 blowout for their third win of the season.
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