Taiwan Beer easily cruised past Kinmen Kaoliang 72-60 at the University of Taipei Gymnasium in Tianmu last night to reach 3-2 for the season.
Patrick O’Bryant had another big day at the office with a game-high 23 points and 13 rebounds to outshine his counterpart Aaron Pettway of Kinmen. The big man from the US who spent four seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) prior to leaving for a career abroad continued to give the opposition trouble inside the paint with sound footwork and exceptional instinct for the ball. Even though he has been with Taiwan Beer for less than two weeks, O’Bryant has demonstrated a solid understanding of skipper Yen Chia-hua’s attacking tactics and played smart enough to stay out of foul trouble.
Also starring for Taiwan Beer was third-year forward Liu Chan, who had 17 points and eight rebounds along with a season-high five steals to further solidify his position in Yen’s lineup.
A 6-0 run by Taiwan Beer in the first 3 minutes, 30 seconds set the tone early in the game as the men in their familiar green uniforms took the ball strong to the hoop with nine points from O’Bryant to claim a 23-10 advantage after 10 minutes of play.
Even though Kinmen regrouped in the second quarter with a great all-around effort that saw five of their players score in the quarter, compared with only two players in the first quarter, it did not keep Taiwan Beer from taking a 42-28 lead at the half.
Following a 6-0 run by the Distillers that reduced the deficit to eight at the start of the second half, the game was all Taiwan Beer as they switched to a higher gear on both ends of the floor by outscoring Kinmen 16-7 to obtain a 58-41 lead en route to a double-digit margin of victory.
In other play, it was:
‧ Yulon 80, Bank of Taiwan 64
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