The top-ranked Pure Youth Construction shook off a dismal second quarter with a tremendous third to ultimately defeat the Dacin Tigers 83-69 at the University of Taipei’s Tianmu Gymnasium last night to improve to 17-3 for the season.
Quincy Davis had a big day at the office, netting a team-high 23 points and 12 rebounds to lead a fivesome of double-digit scorers for the two-time defending champs. It was the fifth straight double-double outing that the recently naturalized Taiwanese citizen has picked up.
Also starring for the Builders were Tsai Wen-cheng and Lin Chin-bang, whose respective 16 and 15 points made it virtually impossible for the injury-plagued Tiger defense to be effective.
Photo Courtesy of the SBL
Well rested after enjoying a day off on Friday, Pure Youth came out firing with 30 first-quarter points, including nine from point-man Keh Chi-hao, to lead the Cats 30-18 after one quarter of play.
Even though Dacin countered with a 29-17 scoring differential in the second quarter to force a 47-all tie at the half thanks to a brilliant 10-point burst by Reggie Okosa, that was the extent to which they managed to keep pace with the Builders.
Pure Youth then took advantage of a short-handed Tigers lineup by wearing their rivals down with fresh legs to lead 64-57 by the end of the third.
The Builders carried that momentum into the fourth, with Tsai leading the attack to deny the Tigers any realistic chance of making a comeback and run away with the double-digit victory.
LEOPARDS 81, TAIWAN BEER 57
The Taiwan Mobile Cloud Leopards roughed up Taiwan Beer to win their final in Tianmu yesterday afternoon, with Australian import Luke Nevill taking charge inside the paint.
The big man, who played on Australia’s national squad prior to joining the Leopards, outmaneuvered last month’s Player of the Month, Patrick O’Bryant of Taiwan Beer, with 27 points and 14 boards to lead the second-placed Leopards to victory.
Unlike the final score indicated, the Leopards opened with a sluggish 11-point first that had them trailing Taiwan Beer 11-14.
However, the deficit lasted less than three minutes into the second quarter as the Leopards awoke for 27 points in the second, with Nevill and Chang Yu-lin netting six points apiece to grab a 36-27 lead at the half.
That was as close as Taiwan Beer got and the Leopards rolled out an 8-0 run midway through the third to blow the game wide open en route to a convincing win.
LUXGENS 81, BANK OF TAIWAN 68
The Yulon Luxgens held off a resilient comeback attempt by Bank of Taiwan in the third quarter with a fundamentally sound fourth to come away the victors in the nightcap game in Tianmu last night.
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