Led by 19-year-old phenom CHEN HSIN-AN, Yulon Dinos grabbed a 100-94 convincing win over three-time CBA champion Hong-kuo Elephants in the opening game of the Millennium Series, which tipped off on January 1 and will last thru March.
Dubbed by local media as the next Taiwanese superstar, 6-4 wing guard CHEN tallied 28 points, including 5 three pointers on 11 attempts in the lopsided win. The final score does not truly reflect the game, in which Yulon led by as many as 25 points early in the 4th quarter and forced as many as 20 Hong-kuo turnovers.
6-5 forward CHOU HONG-YU, another promising young star, scored 24 on 12-19 field goals for Yulon. 6-5 import EMMETT HALL(U. of South Carolina) also contributed 18 points and 6 rebounds. 6-8 REX MANU(Pepperdine) led Hong-kuo with 22 points and 9 rebounds. Hong-kuo's brilliant tandem also played brilliantly, with 5-9 CHOU JUN-SAN's 16 points, 6 assists and 5-10 LO SHIN-LIANG's 16 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists.
REESE'S LAST SECOND COAST-TO-COAST LIFTS MARS
Former UNC standout BRIAN REESE's coast-to-coast drive with 1.1 seconds left lifted the Mars past Luckipar Panthers 79-78 on January 2. With Luckipar's last play ending with losing ball in the traffic, Reese took the ball and dashed fullcourt for a buzzer-beating, game-winning layup, giving the Mars its first win in the Millennium Series.
Hot-shooting MATT BRYANT(Christopher Newport) tallied d 21 points and 7 rebounds in 27 minutes, while 6-6 young center LEE CHI-YI contributed 17p+7rb+4s for the Mars. Surprisingly, Luckipar was led by unheralded 5-9 PG YANG CHI-HOW's 20 points and 6-6 center LIN HSIN-HWA's 19 points and 6 rebounds.
Brian Reese played with Yulon Dinos during 97-98 season but chose to sign with Mars this time around.
STANDING(thru Jan.2)
YULON 1-0
MARS 1-0
HONG-FU 0-0
DACIN 0-0
HONG-KUO 0-1
LUCKIPAR 0-1