Lin "the Beast" Chih-jeh downed a season-high nine three-pointers on a 27-point night and Ho Sho-cheng added another 18 with a half-dozen rebounds to lead Taiwan Beer past the Taiwan Mobile Leopards 76-62 at the Taipei County Sports Complex on Sunday to close out the weekend of play with a perfect 3-0.
With their head coach and spiritual leader Yen Jia-hua out serving a 10 game suspension and the Leopards on a three-game winning streak heading into the match, the battle between the two squads had the makings of being a close one before the tip-off.
And it did through a good part of the third quarter with neither team able to hold a lead of more than five points until the Beer Crew went on an 11-3 run in the closing minutes to open up a 60-52 lead.
PHOTO: WANG YI-SUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
That was the end for the Leopards against the Beer as the Beast opened the fourth with his eighth three-pointer of the game to give his team a double-digit lead before they blew it wide open to run away with a 14-point win.
Outstanding shooting by Taiwan Beer from the field, hitting nearly 50 percent of their shots, against the Leopards' 2-3 zone defense was the key to success as the men in their familiar green-and-white outfits stretched the zone with crisp passing before finding the open man.
Having a bench that can easily go nine deep also helped Taiwan Beer wear out the Leopards by the end of the third quarter.
With a perfect weekend and the Yulon Dinos dropping two straight, Taiwan Beer claimed sole possession of the No.2 spot in the standings, trailing the Dinos by a pair of games.
Pure Youth 90, Tigers 75
Pure Youth Construction broke with their "slow finishers" tag by holding off a tough Tigers rally for their third win of the season in a 90-75 win over Dacin earlier on Sunday.
The builders shook off a slow start with a 26-point second quarter to take a 39-33 lead at halftime and never looked back. A solid third quarter and a rare strong finish fended off a tenacious Tigers rally.
James Mao and Jien Jia-hong combined for 44 points and accounted for nearly half of the Builders' total while Chen Shih-jeh led a smart defense that racked up eleven steals, three of them his own, to deal the Tigers their fifth loss in six games.
Playing without their top scorer Tien Lei and point guard Wang Chih-chuin for the third straight week because of injuries, the Tigers continued to struggle as they fell below the .500 mark for the first time this season with a 6-7 record.
Numen 76, Bank of Taiwan 67
Tempers flared in dmedia Numen's 76-67 win over Bank of Taiwan on Sunday as four Bankers were ejected from the game for throwing punches against opposing players in a near-brawl.
Marred by the news that Numen players' allegedly involved in a bar fight were to be questioned by police, it was obvious the Numen had something else other than basketball on their minds as they trailed the Bankers 37-43 at halftime.
But skipper Wu Jien-guo was able to regroup his troops during the intermission and better execution at both ends of the court meant the Numen held Bank of Taiwan to 24 second-half points and avoided an embarrassing loss.
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