The Taipei Fubon Braves on Saturday ended the Taoyuan Pauian Pilots’ 10-game win streak in front of a packed home crowd at Taipei Heping Basketball Gymnasium.
The back-to-back P.League+ defending champions outhustled the visiting Pilots 86-74, with supporters jumping out of their seats in the fourth quarter when center Ihor Zaytsev made a three-point dagger with 3 minutes, 43 seconds left in the game to extend the team’s lead down the stretch.
The 2.11m-tall Ukrainian center led all scorers with 23 points, shooting 8-for-8 from the floor, including 5-for-5 from beyond the arc and 2-for-2 from the charity stripe.
Zaytsev was one rebound away from a double-double, as he also recorded three dimes, two steals and two blocks in his first official game of the season.
“I feel good... I think we played good, but of course we made some mistakes,” Zaytsev said. “We tried to play with some young guys and some experienced guys, [and] in the end we won.”
The Braves led 16-11 at the end of the first quarter, only to find themselves tied at 35-35 at the end of the first half. They returned to the hardwood after the break with guards Lin “the Beast” Chih-chieh and Jet Chang stepping up to take their team to 64-51 at the end of the third quarter.
The Pilots rallied in the fourth quarter, trailing by only four points after a left-handed layup by guard Justin Lu took the score to 73-69 with a little over 4 minutes left in the game.
However, the Braves held on to their lead to win 86-74.
The Braves are ranked third in the six-team league standings with an 8-8 record. The Pilots are second at 11-4, behind the New Taipei Kings at No. 1 with a 13-4 record.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was