Post-season action continued in the Super Basketball League with the Dacin Tigers overcoming an 11-point deficit in the first half to top the defending champs from Taiwan Beer 87-71 at the Sinjhuang Sports Complex in New Taipei City late last night, to even the best-of-seven series at one win apiece.
Tien Lei shook off a sluggish effort in the opening game with a game-high 24 points to lead the Cats past their long-time rivals, despite fouling out of the game with under five minutes remaining in the contest. His timely surge could be the difference in the series.
“[Tien] really carried us tonight with his outstanding leadership,” Dacin head coach Huang Wan-long said after the game.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
The win not only evened the series for the Tigers, but also breathed new life into their efforts as they prepare to do battle once again in Game 3 tomorrow evening.
Forward Chen Tzu-wei also had a huge day for the Cats as he scored 17 points, all in the second half, to lift his team past the Brew Crew.
Failure to contain Tien because of foul trouble on the part of Kibwe Trim virtually silenced the Taiwan Beer center as they squandered away a double-digit cushion in the first half with a sub-par second half to lose one long before the final buzzer sounded.
LUXGENS 88, PURE YOUTH 79
The Yulon Luxgens bounced back from an awful opener on Saturday with an 88-79 win over Pure Youth Construction in Sinjhuang yesterday afternoon to even their series at 1-1.
Tempers flared in the second quarter, after Yulon forward Lee Chi-yi suffered a hit to his face from former teammate Chen Hsin-an, that dropped Lee to the floor. The blow, though painful, seemed to have awaken the Luxgens as they outscored the Builders 23-13 in the quarter to take a 40-32 lead.
In the interest of keeping the game free of further -confrontations, the referees called a much tighter second half, which led to the fouling out of Pure Youth center Quincy Davis in the third quarter.
That made catching up even more difficult for the Builders as they relied mainly on shooting from the perimeter from that point on en route to the tough loss.
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