Chang Chih-fong scored a season-high 30 points and Tien Lei added another 22 as the Dacin Tigers overcame a nine-point deficit in the second half to top Bank of Taiwan 82-78 in overtime at the Sinjhuang Gymnasium in New Taipei City yesterday afternoon.
The win not only salvaged a 2-1 record for the Cats over a gruesome three-game weekend, but more importantly brought their season mark to above .500 at 13-12 as they head into the final two weeks of the regular season.
“The shots were falling for me today, so I tried to make the most of it,” Chang said after the game.
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
Chang might have won the game for the Tigers in overtime, but the real hero of the game for Dacin was Tien, whose pair of three’s in the fourth quarter sparked an 11-2 run that erased a nine-point deficit and forced the game into the extra session.
Desperately in search for their first win in five contests, the Bankers came out firing in the opening frame, with nine points from team captain Chen Hsuen-shiang as they took a 19-15 lead, but the Tigers returned the favor in the second quarter with 14 from Chang to trigger a 14-3 run that helped them close out the first half with a 38-33 advantage.
Bank of Taiwan managed to erase the deficit in the second half and actually led the game 69-60 with under three minutes to go in the fourth, before Tien’s three-pointers breathed new life into the Tigers and set up the dramatic come-from-behind triumph.
LUXGENS 100, KINMEN 98
Wasting second-half leads as large as a dozen, the Yulon Luxgens held off a ferocious rally by Kinmen Kaoliang Liquor in the fourth quarter to escape with a win in the second game in Sinjhuang yesterday.
Jermaine Dailey dominated the board for the defending champions in the game-deciding fourth quarter with five rebounds, three of which came off the offensive glass during a Kinmen rally to give Yulon the necessary ball possession to run down the clock.
Also starring for the Luxgens was forward Lu Cheng-rue, who racked up 21 points in the first half on a 30-point night.
The Distillers rode the red-hot shooting of hired gun Shawn Hawkins (40 points in the game) in the second half to overcome a double-digit deficit and they actually led the game briefly in the fourth quarter, before a crucial technical foul on Chen Jing-huan gave Yulon possession of the ball after a Kinmen foul in a four-point swing that pushed the Yulon lead back to five points late in the game.
That was the difference in the game as the Luxgens put just enough points on the board, despite missing several free throws in the final two minutes.
TAIWAN BEER 82, PURE YOUTH 69
Taiwan Beer avenged an earlier loss to Pure Youth Construction by downing the Builders 82-69 in the nightcap last night.
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