Defending champions the Taipei Fubon Braves routed the Hsinchu Jko Lioneers by more than 20 points in Game 2 of the P.League+ Finals on Monday night to tie the series 1-1.
The Braves, winners of the 2020-2021 inaugural season of Taiwan’s professional basketball league, overpowered the Lioneers 102-81 in the second game of their best-of-seven series.
Leading for most of the game at the Hsinchu County Stadium — in front of 7,200 spectators — the Braves were able to establish a comfortable lead of 62-41 by halftime.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
Dominating in rebounds and shooting, the Taipei-based team charged ahead to pocket the win.
Braves forward Mike Singletary, Most Valuable Player (MVP) of last season’s Final series, led all scorers with a double-double of 33 points and 18 rebounds, including shooting five of five from the free-throw line.
Lioneers center Sim Bhullar, the league’s MVP for April, led his team with 22 points and 11 rebounds.
After the game, Singletary said his team had made every effort to keep up their defense and offense, because their opponents were a talented team looking for opportunities to turn the tables.
“Tonight, we kind of wanted to put a stranglehold on the game, take care of business, not let them come back, because they are a good team over there and they’ll keep fighting until the end,” he said.
The Braves had needed to place Game 1 in more of a “stranglehold,” as the Lioneers pulled off a 102-101 victory on Saturday.
Known as one of the most prolific players in the league, Singletary said the Finals are when he needs to step up and lead the Braves.
“It’s the Finals. This is the time we all dream about playing as kids: playing for a championship, playing for a trophy, playing for your team and playing for your fans,” Singletary said.
With the series tied, the Finals are to continue with Game 3 at the Taipei Heping Basketball Gymnasium tomorrow.
Japan’s Shohei Ohtani is the record-breaking baseball “superhuman” following in the footsteps of the legendary Babe Ruth who has also earned comparisons to US sporting greats Michael Jordan and Tom Brady. Not since Ruth a century ago has there been a baseball player capable of both pitching and hitting at the top level. The 30-year-old’s performances with the Los Angeles Dodgers have consolidated his position as a baseball legend in the making, and a national icon in his native Japan. He continues to find new ways to amaze, this year becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases
Zhang Shuai yesterday said that she nearly quit after losing 24 matches in a row — now the world No. 595 is into the quarter-finals of her home China Open. The 35-year-old is to face Spain’s Paula Badosa as the lowest-ranked player to reach this stage in the history of the tournament after Badosa reeled off 11 of the last 12 games in a 6-4, 6-0 victory over US Open finalist Jessica Pegula. Zhang went into Beijing on a barren run lasting more than 600 days and her string of singles defeats was the second-longest on the WTA Tour Open era, which
More than 180 years of horse racing came to an end in Singapore on Saturday, as the Singapore Turf Club hosted its final race day before its track is handed back to the Singaporean government to provide land for new homes. Under an overcast sky, the air-conditioned VIP boxes were full of enthusiasts, socialites and expats, while the grounds and betting halls below hosted mostly older-generation punters. The sun broke through for the last race, the last-ever Grand Singapore Gold Cup. The winner, South African jockey Muzi Yeni, echoed a feeling of loss shared by many on the day. “I’d
Francesco Bagnaia yesterday profited from a mistake by rookie Pedro Acosta to win the Japan MotoGP sprint and close the gap on overall championship leader, Jorge Martin. Spaniard Acosta crashed with four laps to go while leading the field at Motegi, allowing defending world champion Bagnaia to take first ahead of Enea Bastianini and Marc Marquez. Spain’s Martin finished fourth and saw his overall lead over Italian Bagnaia in the championship standings cut to 15 points. “I am very happy because with these conditions, it’s not very easy to win and gain points,” Bagnaia said after a sprint race that took place under
RSS