James Mao's clutch drive to the hoop with the clock winding down proved to be the game-winner for Pure Youth Construction as they stunned the Yulon Dinos 116-113 in overtime on Friday at the Taipei County Sports Complex.
A slew of monstrous three-pointers by the young builders set the tone early in the game, with the Dinos finding themselves in unfamiliar territory, trailing 27-31 after the first quarter.
But the three-time champs tightened their defensive effort in the second quarter by holding Pure Youth to 19 points to make it a two-point game (48-50) at the half before skipping ahead with a strong second half to eventually lead 102-92 with a minute remaining in what seemed another certain victory.
That was when the builders fought back by forcing a pair of turnovers on an incredible 10-0 run over the final minute to send the game into extra sessions.
Dinos veteran guard Chen Chih-chung's fastbreak basket with 13.6 seconds remaining in overtime put his team ahead 113-112 but Mao stole the show by delivering the game-winner to seal the win.
Five Pure Youth players managed double-digit scores, led by Hong Chih-shan's 11-for-17 shooting from behind the three-point line for a game-high 35 points. Jien Jia-hong chipped in 27 points and dished out five assists.
Taiwan Beer 80, Tigers 70
Ho Sho-cheng saved his best for last by pouring in ten of his game-high 20 points in the final quarter to lead Taiwan Beer past the Dacin Tigers 80-70 in the early game on Friday to help tie a team record for longest win streak with five straight victories.
The versatile swingman who can play three of the five positions on the floor celebrated the return of head coach Yen Jia-hua from a ten-game suspension by nailing a key three-pointer at the 1:45 mark to give the beer crew a ten-point margin en route to the big win.
Neither team clicked offensively in a low-scoring first quarter that saw Taiwan Beer holding a 12-11 lead before skipper Yen opted to attack the Tigers inside the paint with Lin "the Beast" Chih-jeh and Wu Dai-hao muscling their way to eight straight points to close out the first half with a 33-27 advantage.
Taiwan Beer opened the second half with a 9-2 run to take a double-digit lead before the Tigers showed unusual tenacity by putting together a 15-2 run of their own, sparked by an eight-point burst by Chen Tzu-wei late in the third to fall within one of the beer men (51-52) heading into the fourth.
That was as close as they got as Ho took over to secure the win.
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