A timely resurgence by Liu Sheng-yao, who converted all four free throws in the final 16 seconds of the game, held off a tenacious rally by the Yulon Luxgens to give the Taiwan Mobile Leopards a thrilling 79-76 win at the Hsinchu Municipal Gymnasium on Friday evening.
The soft-spoken Leopard forward, who is finally seeing the floor time he deserves after two years of play, was able to rise to the occasion by nailing the clutch free throws against his former team after the Luxgens were forced to foul intentionally with less than a minute remaining.
“I have been playing a lot better as of late and I hope the trend will continue,” Liu said after the game.
PHOTO: LIU HSIN-DE, TAIPEI TIMES
He has averaged nearly 20 points per game over a four-game stretch to help the Leopards — under the direction of coach Cheng Chih-long — pull off upset wins over Pure Youth Constructions and the Luxgens in the same span.
Seven straight points by Leopards newcomer Alexus Foyle in the first quarter sparked a 10-0 run that gave the Leopards a surprising 19-11 lead before the cats upped the cushion to a whopping 13 (46-33) by the half, highlighted by a buzzer-beating three-pointer from mid-court by Ou Yang Jing-hen.
The Luxgens finally got back on track with a solid third quarter, tied the game up in the fourth and led briefly before coming up empty in all four of their final possessions to let the game slip away in the end.
KINMEN LIQUOR 95, BOT 85
Red-hot Kinmen Liquor continued its winning streak on Friday with a convincing win over Bank of Taiwan (BOT), thanks to an outstanding effort by local boy Cheng Ren-wei and last week’s Player of the Week Shawn “the Hawk” Hawkins.
The Kinmen scoring tandem’s combined 63 points accounted for nearly two-thirds of the team’s total offense for the night has been the main reason the distillers are tied for the lead with the Dacin Tigers with a 7-2 record.
Taiwan’s Lee Hao-yu on Friday went 0-for-3 in his MLB debut for the Detroit Tigers against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, becoming the 19th Taiwan-born player to reach the big leagues. The Tigers ultimately lost 1-0 in 10 innings, ending their six-game winning streak. The 23-year-old started at third base and batted eighth for Detroit. He was promoted from Triple-A Toledo ahead of the four-game series against the Red Sox at the latter’s home stadium, replacing injured utility player Zach McKinstry. “Being right-handed, and given our schedule, I think six of the next 12 games are going to
Matheus Cunha on Saturday fired Manchester United toward the UEFA Champions League with a 1-0 win at Chelsea, while Tottenham Hotspur remain in the relegation zone after twice blowing the lead to draw with Brighton & Hove Albion. Chelsea failed to take advantage of a United defense ravaged by injury and suspension as a fourth straight league defeat for the Blues left their Champions League hopes in ruins. United have missed out on the riches of Europe’s elite competition for the past two seasons, but are closing in on a return thanks to an upturn in fortunes under interim manager
Italian soccer is at its lowest ebb in nearly 40 years after a wholesale European exodus at club level followed the nation’s failure for the third successive time to qualify for the FIFA World Cup, and compounded a leadership and structural crisis. The exits suffered by Bologna and ACF Fiorentina on Thursday in the UEFA Europa League and UEFA Conference League respectively meant no Italian teams are left in European competition this season. Italy’s last remaining UEFA Champions League contenders, Atalanta BC, went out in the round of 16 last month. It is the first time since the 1986-1987 campaign that Italian clubs
The Detroit Tigers’ Lee Hao-yu on Monday collected his first and second MLB hits in their 8-6 loss to the Boston Red Sox. The Tigers’ No. 6 prospect, who batted eighth, had an RBI single and a double in four at-bats at Fenway Park, raising his batting average to .182. “He was super thrilled to get his first hit,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said after the game. “There’s only one first, you know, and for him, it’s been a couple of games where he’s really been wanting to do it. I’m glad he did it here.” “Young guys settle in when they start
RSS