The underdogs came good in yesterday’s play at the Sinjhuang Sports Complex in New Taipei City, with Kinmen Kaoliang downing the Dacin Tigers and the Taiwan Mobile Cloud Leopards upsetting the Yulon Luxgens.
The Distillers took out their frustration from a blowout loss to top-ranked Pure Youth Construction the night before on the Cats in a 60-56 win to hand Dacin their fifth loss in six games and denying the former league leaders a chance to close out the weekend with a 2-0 record.
Sound defense was the key to success for Kinmen, who returned three starters from minor injuries that had sidelined them the night before as they held the Tiger offense to a miserable 20 points in the first half to enjoy a surprising 30-20 advantage at the break.
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
The Tigers’ offense finally got back on track with 24 points in the fourth quarter after a dismal third in which they were held to a dozen, but it was too little, too late as Kinmen Kaoliang held off a late-game rally by Dacin that was championed by a pair of three-pointers from Tien Lei.
Top pick Liu Tseng played his best game as a professional with 23 points and 13 boards, to go along with big man Anthony Fuqua’s 17 points and as many rebounds to lead the way for Kinmen Kaoliang, while Tien’s team-high dozen was the lone highlight for the Cats in just their second game under rookie skipper Huang Wan-long.
Leopards 71, Luxgens 58
The Taiwan Mobile Cloud Leopards also pulled off an upset win against the Yulon Luxgens in the second game to salvage a 1-1 record over the weekend.
Eight first-quarter points by Ryan Wright set the tone early for the Leopards as they took a 21-16 lead after the opening frame and upped it to 10 (40-30) at the half, before pulling away in a solid second half to pick up the win.
Wright would lead all scorers with 23 points, outshining his counterpart Kevin Johnson of Yulon, who managed only nine on the night despite grabbing a game-high 13 boards.
Playing their second game over a 20-hour span, the Luxgens were clearly a step behind the Leopards throughout the contest as fatigue took its toll, leading to a 13-point and 13-rebound margin in favor of the Leopards.
Pure Youth 83, Taiwan Beer 70
Top-ranked Pure Youth Construction made sure the underdogs would not have all their own way yesterday as they took advantage of an 11-2 run in the third quarter to take a 55-43 lead en route to a victory over Taiwan Beer in the late game.
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