Yang Jing-min’s three-pointer with less than two minutes remaining in overtime gave Taiwan Beer a 79-75 lead as they went on to defeat the Dacin Tigers 83-78 in Game 5 of the Championship Finals to clinch the SBL title by a 4-1 margin at the Sinjhuang Gymnasium in New Taipei City last night.
The veteran forward finished with a game-high 23 points, including seven of his team’s 14 points in overtime, to earn the Championship MVP honor.
“The support that I received from my teammates was a big boost for me and that was what it took,” Yang said after the game.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
His timely second-half surges played a crucial role in three of the Brew Crew’s four wins.
It was the second time in the five games that the contest went to extra sessions, all five of which were decided by five or fewer points, making the series one of the most closely-contested finals in league history.
Also starring for Taiwan Beer were Emmanuel Jones and Wu Dai-hao, whose 36 combined points from inside the paint were too much for the Tigers to handle.
Taiwan Beer opened with a quick 4-0 lead on back-to-back baskets by Wu, before the Tigers scored the next five points to take a 5-4 lead.
Dacin led by as many as six (17-11) with Chang Chih-fong pouring eight in the first quarter before the Brew Crew netted six in a row to end the evenly fought quarter on a 17-all tie.
A tenacious Taiwan Beer defense kept the Cats off the board for more than five minutes in the second quarter to help the men in the familiar green take a 30-17 lead before the Tigers went on an 11-4 run to close out the first half trailing by six.
Five straight points by Taiwan Beer gave them a double-digit lead for the second time in the game, but it was the Tigers’ Chen Tzu-wei who came off the bench with three three-pointers in a row to cut the Taiwan Beer lead to as few as one in the third quarter.
Taiwan Beer quickly upped its lead back to a six with Yang and Jones leading the way only to see the diehard Tigers answered with an 11-0 run to take a 62-57 lead midway through the fourth.
It was Yang to rescue once again as the Brew Crew overcame the deficit to tie the game at 69-all by the end of regulation time, setting the stage for Yang’s late-game magic that sealed the deal for the eventual victors.
The Tigers managed to pull within three late in overtime with a big three-pointer by Alexus Foyle, but that was as close as they got as the Brew Crew sank their free throws in the final seconds to kill the Tigers’ rally.
After letting another big lead slip with an error-strewn performance at the French Open on Wednesday, top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka felt like getting as far away from the courts as possible. “Just want to quit tennis right now,” Sabalenka said after wasting a lead of a set and two breaks in a 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 loss to Diana Shnaider in the women’s singles quarter-finals. “We’ll see in few days. Hopefully I’ll get back on track mentally.” Sabalenka’s wait for a first French Open title continues despite the four-time major winner leading 4-1 in the second set and being two points from victory while
BIG NAMES GONE: Zverev is the clear favorite for a maiden Grand Slam title, reaching semi-finals for the fifth time in six years and finishing second on three occasions Alexander Zverev on Tuesday breezed past Rafael Jodar to stay on course for an elusive Grand Slam title at the French Open, while Jakub Mensik halted Joao Fonseca’s scintillating run in the quarter-finals. Zverev, the highest-ranked player left in the men’s draw, put an end to Spanish teenager Jodar’s impressive Roland Garros debut, easing into the semi-finals with a 7-6, (7/3), 6-1, 6-3 win. The 29-year-old Zverev is the clear favorite for a maiden Grand Slam title. He has finished runner-up on three occasions, including at the 2024 French Open. “I want to win the matches that are ahead of
For some, Cristiano Ronaldo remains the essential spearhead for Portugal’s FIFA World Cup bid, while others believe his presence would prevent Roberto Martinez’s strong side from flourishing. The debate around the five-time Ballon d’Or winner rages on, as it did at UEFA Euro 2024 and four years ago in Qatar — yet Ronaldo endures, ready to play in a record sixth World Cup. The 41-year-old remains a global superstar despite swapping the European elite for Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr, and is the leading men’s international goalscorer with 143 strikes. With 25 of those coming in 30 games under Martinez, the coach
Taiwanese sprinter Chen Yi-cen on Friday won the silver medal in the women’s 400m final at the Asian U20 Athletics Championships in Hong Kong, with a time of 53.16 seconds. Chen, 15, was the youngest among the eight finalists, and her performance also met the qualifying standard of 53.50 seconds for the Nagoya Asian Games in Japan in September and October. Chen first made her mark at the National Games in Tainan in 2023, at the age of 13, winning the women’s 400m final in 55.55 seconds to become the youngest gold medalist in the history of the event. Meanwhile,
RSS