The Taiwan Beer opened the new season on a high note with a 69-58 win over the Dacin Tigers at the National Taiwan University of Sports Gymnasium last night.
Liu Chan picked up where he left off from last season’s MVP-worthy performance with 10 first-quarter points to help the Brew Crew claim a 21-14 advantage.
The third-year man went on to pick up further 15 points against a tough Tiger defense that double-teamed him for most of the night to lift his club past their foes.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Also starring for the Taiwan Beer was Patrick O’Bryant, who showed off his extended shooting range with two long bombs from downtown to contribute to his game-high 19 points and 18 rebounds to humble the Dacin interior defense.
The showdown between two of the most popular teams in the league was all the Taiwan Beer from the get-go, as they led for virtually the entire game against a Tien Lei-less Dacin squad.
Following a solid first quarter that saw the Taiwan Beer take a seven-point lead, the Cats tightened their defense in the second to keep the gap to nine points at half-time.
That was as close as they got, as the Brew Crew outshot and outfought them in the third to take a double-digit lead before holding off a mild rally attempt by Dacin.
Four players scored double-digits for the Taiwan Beer, with O’Bryant leading the way. Rookie guard Chiang Yu-an’s 10 points also showed tremendous promise for the Brew Crew.
“Coach said to play at our own pace and that’s what we did; we played defense really well today,” Chiang said after his professional debut.
Meanwhile, Pure Youth Construction topped the Fubon Braves 75-63 in Taichung to open the season with an impressive “W.”
The rematch of last season’s championship finals saw the Braves put up a tough fight against the three-time defending champions by staying with the Builders for nearly three-and-a-half quarters, overcoming deficits as large as nine points in the third to keep it a two-point game with seven minutes left to play.
However, Pure Youth’s experience came through as they outscored the Braves 10-3 in a crucial run midway through the fourth.
Quincy Davis had a big day at the office with his parents watching on as he netted a game-high 22 points with a dozen boards to lead the Builders.
As for the Braves, newcomer Darian Townes had a solid first half on both ends of the floor with nine points and 14 rebounds to his credit in the first half alone. However, failure to get him involved in the second half, especially in the fourth quarter due to a slew of turnovers by his teammates, ultimately cost them the game.
Boston Red Sox pitcher Connelly Early on Tuesday struck out 11 in five shutout innings to match a franchise record during his MLB debut against the Oakland Athletics. “Pretty sick performance,” teammate Romy Gonzalez said. “It was fun to watch.” The only other Red Sox starter to rack up 11 strikeouts in his first career game was Don Aase versus the Milwaukee Brewers on July 26, 1977. “It was amazing, just to go out there and have that first opportunity,” Early said after getting the win in a 6-0 victory. “A long day of travel yesterday and just getting to the field, seeing
‘DEVASTATED’: Argentina’s win was a reversal of their 28-24 defeat last week, with Australian forward Fraser McReight adding that ‘we did the same thing last week’ Argentina flyhalf Santiago Carreras punished an undisciplined Australia with 23 points off the tee as the Pumas held on grimly for a 28-26 win in Sydney yesterday to breathe new life into their Rugby Championship campaign. A try-fest beckoned in afternoon sunshine at Sydney Football Stadium, but Argentina needed only one through captain Julian Montoya, with Carreras doing the damage with seven penalties and a conversion in front of a sell-out crowd. A week after letting a 14-point lead slip in a 28-24 defeat to Australia in Townsville, Argentina saw most of a 21-point advantage erased in the final quarter as the
ELEVEN STRIKEOUTS: Blake Snell allowed two singles and two walks against the Rockies as he ended a personal three-game skid with his first win since Aug. 16 Blake Snell on Wednesday struck out a season-high 11 in six innings, while Mookie Betts hit a grand slam in the eighth as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Colorado Rockies 9-0 for their fourth straight win. Helped by their third series sweep of the Rockies this MLB season, the Dodgers increased their National League West lead to three games over the San Diego Padres, who lost 2-1 at home to the Cincinnati Reds. Betts went four for five with five RBIs, capped by his seventh career slam on a 3-0 pitch from reliever Anthony Molina to make it 8-0. Andy Pages and
Captain Vijay Kumar led the way yesterday as the Hsinchu Titans claimed the Taiwan Premier League title at the Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山), beating PCCT by 27 runs. The weather was a topic again, but not the rain that played a role in previous matches in the often-delayed tournament. Kumar, who made 80 not out from 63 deliveries, and teammate Vishwajit Kumar (58 from 43) rescued the Titans from a precarious state at the end of the power play in the T20 match. The visitors were put in to bat and struggled to 26-3 as PCCT
RSS