A pair of deadly turnovers midway through the fourth quarter by Kinmen Kaoliang Liquor led to four easy points for the Taiwan Mobile Leopards in a potential six-point turnaround as the Leopards went on to win 95-81 at the Sinjhuang Gymnasium in New Taipei City yesterday afternoon for their second win in as many days.
Ou-Yang Jing-hen played his best game of the season by far, downing a team-high 24 points to lead a balanced Leopards attack that had five different players finish with double-digits. Several of his baskets came at crucial moments of the game, either stopping Kinmen Kaoliang rallied or giving the Leopards the lead.
“I’m really glad the shots fell for me today,” Ou-Yang said after shooting eight-for-15 from the field with a pair of three’s.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
His timely surge not only kept the Leopards’ playoff hopes alive, but also made a genius out of coach Cheng Chih-long for keeping the slumping guard in the starting lineup.
Seven first-quarter points by Chang Rong-hsuen carried the Distillers in the early going as they enjoyed a 19-17 advantage through the first 10 minutes of play, but the scales would tilt the Leopards’ way in the second, with Ou-Yang netting nine of his team’s 22 points in the quarter to lead by a deuce at the half.
The two teams traded leads smaller than four points for a good part of the second half, until Su Hsiang-yi’s breakaway layup made it 81-76 in favor of the Leopards at the 4 minutes, 4 seconds mark of the fourth.
That was as close as Kinmen got as the Leopards pulled off a 14-5 run to secure the win.
PURE YOUTH 82, TIGERS 76
The Dacin Tigers proved no match for a well-rested Pure Youth squad as they fell by six points in the second game yesterday for an even 12-12 record for the season.
Playing their second game in less than 24 hours took its toll on the Cats as they simply ran out of steam against a high-flying Builders squad that had beaten top-ranked Taiwan Beer on Wednesday night and came into yesterday’s contest ready and able.
While the Tigers struggled during the second half, Pure Youth’s red-hot guard Keh Ji-hao continued his recent scoring spree with 10 in the third quarter alone on a 16-point night to help his team take a double-figure lead.
That was more than Dacin could handle despite a late-game rally, as they fell short by six to lose the game long before the final buzzer.
TAIWAN BEER 87, LUXGENS 81
Emmanuel Jones nailed a pair of free throws that broke a 78-78 tie and he converted a three-point play the old fashioned way in the final minute to lead Taiwan Beer past the Yulon Luxgens in Sinjhuang last night.
The late-game explosion by the American forward negated an otherwise valiant comeback rally by the Luxgens, who erased a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 78-78 with under three minutes left to play.
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