Defending champions the Taipei Fubon Braves on Sunday defeated the Formosa Taishin Dreamers 119-11 in a double-overtime semi-final thriller to punch their ticket to the P.League+ finals for the second consecutive year.
Earlier in the five-game series, the Braves defeated the Taichung-based Dreamers 98-89 on June 4 and 100-94 on Monday last week, but lost 95-80 on Friday.
At Sunday’s post-game news conference at Taipei Heping Basketball Gymnasium, Braves head coach Roger Hsu said he was touched by the effort the players showed in clinching the win and advancing to the finals.
Photo: CNA
Last season’s finals Most Valuable Player — Braves forward Mike Singletary, who led his team with a double-double of 37 points and 18 rebounds — said he knew he had to be aggressive for the team to win.
“When other guys have it going, my role is to play defense and do everything I can to help the team win. Tonight was a situation where I had to be more aggressive and that’s just what happened,” he said.
Taiwanese star and Braves forward Lin Chi-chieh, who scored 27 points and was just one rebound shy of a double-double, said he wanted to win the game to defend his home court.
Lin, who turned 40 on Saturday, said that although there was a gap in physical fitness as he grew older, he had a better understanding of what he should do on the court.
On Sunday, the score was tied at 105-105 after Braves forward Josh Chou put in a right-handed hook shot with about four minutes left in the second overtime period.
From there, the Braves led a 10-0 run over the Dreamers, before point guard Lin Chun-chi answered with a three-point play to narrow the gap to 115-108 with only 1 minute, 19 seconds left.
However, the Braves held their lead and edged over with a 4-3 point run to advance to the finals.
The Braves, winners of the inaugural P.League+ championship last season, are to face the winner of the best-of-seven final series in the other semi-final matchup between the Hsinchu JKO Lioneers and the New Taipei Kings. They are tied 2-2, and are to play tonight at Hsinchu County Stadium.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB