The Fubon Braves last night bounced back from a tough loss to the Dacin Tigers on Thursday with an emotional 73-69 win over top-ranked Pure Youth Construction at the Banciao Gymnasium in New Taipei City, racking up their sixth win of the season.
Hsiao Hsuan-yi’s clutch two after receiving a crafty feed from Kao Chien-yi put the victors up by five with under 50 seconds remaining in the game as they stood their ground with the Builders in hot pursuit to seal the win in grand fashion.
“I wasn’t thinking much at all about [the clutch shot], because the pass [from Kao] was right on the money; I just had to put it up,” Hsiao told reporters after the game.
His great finish prevented the Builders from pulling off an improbable comeback attempt that brought them from a 13-point deficit at the half to within three of the Braves with less than a minute left to play.
What should have been an easy win for the four-time defending champions turned into an ugly outing as the Builders were outscored 24-13 in a horrendous first quarter that saw them miss seven of 10 from the charity stripe.
Pure Youth were held to only two field goals in another dismal offensive effort in a 13-point second quarter to trail the Braves by 13 at halftime before Darian Townes converted four of five from the field, including a thunderous slam, to cut the Fubon lead to three late in the third quarter.
The Builders managed to cut the deficit down to as close as two early in the fourth before Chang Yu-lin nailed back-to-back three-pointers to go along with a pair of jumpers by hired gun Earl Barron from midrange to give the Braves a big enough cushion to deny the Builders any chance of a comeback.
The Builders did not help their own cause with abysmal shooting at the free-throw line. They hit only 26 of 41 from the charity stripe to leave over a dozen points on the table. The loss represented their third straight defeat as their midseason slump continues.
Luxgens 83, Tigers 79
The Yulon Luxgens snapped a three-game slide with an 83-79 win over a previously red-hot Dacin Tigers squad that had won six straight heading into the contest in the second game in New Taipei City last night.
Lu Cheng-ju’s big three from downtown with less than two minutes remaining on the clock turned a 77-75 deficit into a 78-77 lead for the Automakers as they rode the clutch shooting of their captain on a 20-point night to tame the Cats, who nearly pulled off their seventh straight win.
Also starring was James Tyler, whose season-high 26 points, 18 rebounds and five blocked-shots provided a much-needed presence inside the paint for Yulon to keep the Dacin defense honest against Yulon’s perimeter game.
“I really wanted to win the game with the losing streak on the line. We were all extra motivated,” Tyler said after the game.
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