A 24-point outing by Doug Creighton helped top-ranked Pure Youth Construction cruise past the Fubon Braves 89-67 at the Sinjhuang Sports Complex in New Taipei City last night to start the New Year on a high note.
Having lost their previous meeting against the Braves, which cost them the lead in the standings at the time, the Builders made sure that they would win and win big, opening the game with a 9-0 run with back-to-back three-pointers from Chen Tzu-wei and Keh Chi-hao. They led by 27-14 at the end of the first period.
Even though the Braves tightened their defense and held the Builders to 16 in a low-scoring second quarter, the defending champions managed to up their lead by four with an even better defensive effort that kept the No. 2 offense in the league to just 12. The Builders led 43-26 at the half.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
The Braves rallied to within five in a physical third quarter as big man Darian Townes led the attack with 10 points in the quarter.
However, that was as close as they got as Creighton exploded for 15 points in the decisive fourth, highlighted by three three-pointers to settle the outcome long before the final buzzer.
Four players scored in double-digits for the Builders, spearheaded by Creighton’s team-high 24. Tsai Wen-cheng chipped in 14, while Quincy Davis racked up six blocked shots to help their club win the showdown between the top two squads in the league.
For the Braves, Townes led all scorers with 30 points and 23 rebounds on a night his team shot a dismal four-for-23 from long range.
In the second game, Kinmen Kaoliang pulled off an emotional victory over Taiwan Beer with a buzzer-beating, game-winning three by Yang Che-yi to win 67-64.
The game-clincher came just seconds after Taiwan Beer had tied the game up with a three-pointer off the backboard by Patrick O’Bryant that brought the Brew Crew from as many as five down with less than two minutes to play.
“I am just glad that I was able to get the shot off with the clock winding down,” Yang said after the game. “It was a huge win for us.”
The buzzer-beater avoided what could have been a devastating loss for the Distillers, who outplayed the Brew Crew in every facet of the game.
Also starring for Taiwan Beer was Bryan Davis, who attacked the basket, scoring several monstrous slams. Other than his game-high 37 points, the US center also came up big with a clutch defensive stand against O’Bryant in the closing minute of the game on a potentially game-tying shot.
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