Lin "the Beast" Chih-jeh regained his sharpest form in a three-point burst with nine long-range bombs on a 28-point night to lead Taiwan Beer past the Taiwan Mobile Leopards in a 81-74 win at the Taipei County Sports Complex on Friday evening.
The SBL's Most Valuable Player last season shook off a midseason slump that saw him average only 10 points per contest over a three-game stretch by converting nine-of-13 from behind the three-point line to help his team defeat the Leopards.
"It was a big win for us and me personally since I haven't been on my `A' game for nearly two weeks," the Beast said after the game.
PHOTO: WANG YI-SUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
It was his three long three-pointer's during the game-deciding fourth quarter, including a rare four-point play in which he was fouled on a made three-pointer, that broke a 58-58 tie and put the Beer ahead until the climax.
Four three-pointers by the Beast in the opening quarter quickly gained the Beer crew a 20-16 lead, before they made it 43-34 with a slew of perimeter jumpers to close out the half.
The Leopards would cut into the Taiwan Beer lead in a high-scoring third, behind the stellar shooting of guards Wu Yong-ren and Hsu Tseh-shin and eventually forced a 58-58 tie by the end of the quarter.
That was the extent to which the Leopards could run with the Beer, as the Beast came out firing in the fourth quarter to seal the victory.
Also starring for the Beer crew along with the Beast was fellow Amis tribesman Yang Jing-min, who poured in 20 on the night to give the dynamic tandem 48 combined points and account for nearly 60 percent of the Taiwan Beer total.
As for the Leopards, the flash of brilliance during the third quarter was not enough to eke out a win as they dropped six in a row, the longest losing streak of the season.
Pure Youth 113, Bank of Taiwan 73
Red-hot Pure Youth Construction continued their winning ways by trouncing Bank of Taiwan in a 113-73 blowout earlier on Friday. It was their fourth straight victory and their sixth in the last seven games.
The Builders took a huge 31-11 lead after one quarter of play on the strength of a 12-point outburst by guard Tso Tsong-kai and never looked back en route to the easy 40-point win.
However, the victory did come at a price, as they lost Tso for the rest of the season when he suffered a broken right arm after landing on it awkwardly following a midair collision on a drive to the basket.
"He [Tso] will be sorely missed," Pure Youth skipper Hsu Jin-tseh said after learning of his sharp shooter's misfortune.
Six different Pure Youth players scored in double-digits on the night, with reserve forward Hsu Shih-ching leading the attack with 16 points. None of the starters played more than 20 minutes in this game since it was out of the Bankers reach long before the final buzzer.
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