Top-seeded Pure Youth Construction avenged Saturday night’s tough loss to the Fubon Braves by erupting for 55 points in the second half to pull away with a 92-72 win in Game 2 of the SBL semi-finals at the Sinjhuang Sports Complex in New Taipei City last night to even the best-of-seven series at one win apiece.
Tsai Wen-cheng held nothing back in the must-win game for the four-time defending champions, who squandered a double-digit lead in the first half on Saturday to drop the opener by eight with 26 points on the night to pace the Builders to victory.
“The biggest difference between the two games was our defense, especially in the second half,” Tsai said after the game.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
Pure Youth held a red-hot Fubon offense, winners of four straight games heading into the contest, to 37 points in the second half to hand the Braves their first loss in the post-season.
Neither offense clicked well in the early going, with Darian Townes scoring five points to help the Builders take a 16-12 lead in a sloppy first quarter.
However, both squads would rediscover their shooting range in the second quarter, with Chen Tzu-wei connecting on a pair of long three-pointers for Pure Youth and Earl Barron converting four straight from the free-throw line to cut the Builders’ cushion to 37-35 at the half.
A 19-7 run by the Builders in the first five minutes of the second half provided them with some breathing room against Fubon, which turned out to the momentum-turner, as the Builders kept the lead near 10 points before pulling away late in the fourth to run away with a 20-point blowout victory.
Four players scored in double-digits for the Builders, led by Tsai’s game-high 26, while Barron’s team-high 19 represented just one of two double-digit scorers for the Braves.
The two teams are off today for some much needed rest before tomorrow night’s Game 3, which is scheduled to begin at 5pm in New Taipei City on the final day of the four-day weekend.
Tigers 69, Taiwan Beer 80
In the other semi-final match, second-seeded Taiwan Beer overcame a sluggish first half with a solid third quarter, going on to defeat the third-seeded Dacin Tigers 80-69 to take a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven series.
Liu Cheng put on an offensive clinic for the second straight day by matching his game-high 28 points in Saturday night’s opener with another game-high 28 points on the night to champion the men in the familiar green past their foes.
His 16 points were two shy of the Tigers’ entire team scoring total in the decisive third, in which the Brew Crew outscored the lethargic Cats 27-18 to turn a 30-35 deficit at the half into a 57-53 lead, an advantage they would not relinquish the rest of the way, en route to a double-digit triumph.
Also starring was point guard Chiang Yu-an, whose back-to-back three-pointers accounted for half of his 12 fourth-quarter points to help seal the deal for Taiwan Beer.
Poor three-point shooting on the part of the Tigers, who shot a horrendous four-for-24 (16.7 percent) from behind the arc, proved to be the difference in the game.
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