Taiwanese basketball legend Cheng Chih-lung yesterday led the struggling Kaohsiung Steelers to their first win as head coach in the P.League+.
The Steelers topped the Formosa Taishin Dreamers 105-88 at Kaohsiung Fengshan Stadium, to record their second win of the season and end a seven-game losing streak.
The Dreamers’ Sir’Dominic Pointer of the US led the scoring with 23 points and 10 rebounds, while the Steelers’ Aaron Harrison, also of the US, scored 17 points, with nine rebounds and two assists.
Photo courtesy of P.League+ via CNA
The Steelers on Saturday announced in a statement that Cheng would take over the team.
A highly celebrated basketball player, who retired in 2001 and later took on coaching roles, Cheng has led Taiwan in various international tournaments, winning gold in men’s basketball in the 1997 East Asian Games in Busan, South Korea.
He was also the first Taiwanese to play in China’s Chinese Basketball Association, where he played alongside Yao Ming with the Shanghai Sharks from 1999 to 2001.
The 1.91m highflyer, whose father is American and mother is Taiwanese, is also known in the Philippines for his medal-winning battles in the Asian Youth Championships in Manila in the 1980s.
The Steelers (2-15) are last in the six-team league rankings, behind the Dreamers, who are 5-8.
Also yesterday, the Hsinchu JKO Lioneers edged the Fubon Braves 94-88 at Hsinchu County Stadium in Jhubei City.
On Saturday, the New Taipei Kings beat the Lioneers 103-85 in Jhubei, extending their winning streak to six games and their lead at the top of league standings to 12-3, leading the Taoyuan Pauian Pilots (10-3).
Kings guard Joseph Lin shot 6-6 from beyond the arc to contribute 22 points.
In the T1 League, the Kaohsiung Aquas yesterday snapped the New Taipei CTBC DEA’s six-game streak, topping them 105-87 in the Kaohsiung Arena.
The victory puts the Aquas (8-5) within one win of matching the league-leading DEA (9-4), after Kaohsiung on Saturday lost to the Tainan TSG Ghosthawks 101-92.
The Aquas’ Lithuanian center Mindaugas Kupsas scored 21 points, with 11 rebounds and three assists, while DEA’s Demitrius Conger of the US recorded 19 points, 10 rebounds and three assists.
In New Taipei City, the Taiwan Beer Herobears beat the Taoyuan Leopards 114-111.
On Saturday, the Herobears dominated the Taichung Suns 105-89 at the University of Taipei’s Tianmu campus gymnasium.
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