Play resumes in the SBL at the Taipei County Sports Complex this evening after a two-week break for Lunar New Year. The Dacin Tigers take on Taiwan Beer before the Yulon Dinos do battle with Pure Youth Constructions.
With the Player of the Week winner from the final week of play prior to the break Lin "the Beast" Chih-jeh, Taiwan Beer hopes to extend its four-game winning streak against a Tigers side who have been plagued by injuries for most of the season, notably the absence of top scorer Tien Lei.
It will be a big game for both teams since a win for the second-place Taiwan Beer will help it keep pace with the top-ranked Dinos as far as the regular season's title hunt is concerned.
Meanwhile a victory for the Tigers would give them a full game lead over the fifth-place Pure Youth in a heated battle for the fourth-and-final playoff spot.
The Dinos are clearly the favorites in their clash with Pure Youth even though the builders have shown an ability to play shoulder-to-shoulder with any team in the league during their recent five-game win prior to the New Year break.
Tip-off for Taiwan Beer-Dacin game is scheduled for 6pm with the primetime spot reserved for the Dinos-Pure Youth showdown.
In other SBL news, Jonathan Sanders was selected the Most Valuable Player of last month yesterday for his outstanding plays in guiding the dmedia Numen to a 7-2 record in January.
Sanders, who spent last season with the former Videoland Hunters (the Taiwan Mobile Leopards this season) and was signed by the Numen during the offseason for his great all-around game averaged 20.1 points and 17.4 rebounds, in addition to 2.7 steals, 1.7 blocked-shots, and five assists per game to set a new standard for an all-purpose player.
"It's nice to win the award, but the credits should go to my teammates and the coaches for their great support," Sanders said after receiving the winner's trophy.
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