Upset-minded Kinmen Liquor made it two wins in a row over the weekend by topping the favored Taiwan Mobile Cloud Leopards in a 75-71 final at the Kaohsiung Fengshan Gymnasium yesterday afternoon.
The win not only brought the Distillers out of the cellar in the standings, but also gave them a perfect 2-0 record against the second-placed Leopards, who they defeated at their first meeting last month in a 68-65 decision.
Hired gun Aaron Pettway played his best game of the season so far by downing 15 points and 18 rebounds to lift Kinmen Liquor past their rivals.
Even though it was not his best outing as far as his overall statistics are concerned, his inside presence and ability to contain the Leopards’ twin towers Luke Nevill and Wu Dai-hao might have been enough for the big American to secure his place with the Distillers.
“I needed a big showing to prove my worth, that’s the only way for me to keep my job here,” Pettway said after the game.
His inconsistency on the offensive front had cast doubts among the Kinmen Liquor coaching staff over the past two weeks.
Also starring for the Distillers was Hsu “the Fool” Hao-cheng whose perfect 4-for-4 shooting from the free-throw line late in the game crushed any hopes the Leopards might have had of rallying to a win. Hsu accounted for a dozen of his team’s 21 points in the decisive fourth.
PURE YOUTH 75, TAIWAN BEER 68
Top-ranked Pure Youth Constructions also won their weekend finale in Kaohsiung with a triumph over Taiwan Beer to extend their current winning streak to six games.
Quincy Davis picked up his fifth double-double showing in six chances with a team-high 19 points and 14 rebounds to outshine Taiwan Beer’s Patrick O’Bryant who had a solid game of his own with 14 points and 11 rebounds in a losing effort.
O’Bryant did not get to finish the game for the Brew Crew, as he was called for his fifth foul with 1.5 minutes remaining in the game, after which the Crew were held scoreless.
“Not having [O’Bryant] in the game really held us back,” Taiwan Beer skipper Yen Chia-hua said after the game.
The Brew Crew’s top scorer Liu Chan continued to perform brilliantly with a game-high 22 points and seven boards, but the third-year forward also turned the ball over a season-high six times and shot a dismal 0-for-5 from the free-throw line.
LUXGENS 73, BANK OF TAIWAN 65
The Yulon Luxgens needed a strong fourth quarter to break a 47-all tie after three quarters of play to defeat Bank of Taiwan in Kaohsiung last night.
The next generation of running talent takes center stage at today’s Berlin Marathon, in the absence of stars including Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge and Ethiopian world record holder Tigist Assefa. With most of the major marathon stars skipping the event in the wake of the Paris Olympics just more than a month ago, the field is wide open in the men’s and women’s races. Since 2015, Kipchoge has won five times in Berlin, Kenenisa Bekele has won twice and Guye Adola once — with all three missing today. Kenyan Kibiwott Kandie and Ethiopian Tadese Takele are among the favourites for the men, while
Japan’s Shohei Ohtani is the record-breaking baseball “superhuman” following in the footsteps of the legendary Babe Ruth who has also earned comparisons to US sporting greats Michael Jordan and Tom Brady. Not since Ruth a century ago has there been a baseball player capable of both pitching and hitting at the top level. The 30-year-old’s performances with the Los Angeles Dodgers have consolidated his position as a baseball legend in the making, and a national icon in his native Japan. He continues to find new ways to amaze, this year becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases
Zhang Shuai yesterday said that she nearly quit after losing 24 matches in a row — now the world No. 595 is into the quarter-finals of her home China Open. The 35-year-old is to face Spain’s Paula Badosa as the lowest-ranked player to reach this stage in the history of the tournament after Badosa reeled off 11 of the last 12 games in a 6-4, 6-0 victory over US Open finalist Jessica Pegula. Zhang went into Beijing on a barren run lasting more than 600 days and her string of singles defeats was the second-longest on the WTA Tour Open era, which
Taiwan’s Tony Wu yesterday beat Mackenzie McDonald of the US to win the Nonthaburi Challenger IV in Thailand, his first challenger victory since 2022. The 26-year-old world No. 315, who won both his qualifiers to advance to the main draw, has been on a hot streak this month, winning his past nine matches, including two that ensured Taiwan’s victory in their Davis Cup World Group I tie. Wu took just more than two hours to top world No. 172 McDonald 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) to win his second challenger tournament since the Tallahassee Tennis Challenger in 2022. Wu’s Tallahassee win followed two years of
RSS