In the first week after the Chinese New year's break, Hong-fu Rams finally got their first win with a 94-92 victory over Yulon Dinos. Player of the week goes to Erik Martin(Cincinnati) of Luckipar Panthers, who recorded the first triple-double of the series with 18p, 22rb and 11a.
Meanwhile, Mars, Luckipar and Hong-kuo tie at second place with 3-3 record. With 4-5 games remaining for each team, the scramble makes the playoff picture even more interesting, because No.5 Dacin and last -place Hong-fu are only one and two games behind, respectively.
Mike Elliott(Montana State) banked in a deciding three-pointer with under a minute to go. Hong-fu edged Yulon Dinos 94-92 on February 11 and finally receive its first W. Elliott's 31p, 11rb, 5a and 6s performance not only help the team but also helping himself. Hong-fu decided to keep Elliott, who was said to be "playing selfish" by Rams coaching staff.
Luckipar surprisingly trounced Hong-kuo 100-68 the next day, thanks to Martin's brilliant triple-double performance. The 32-point winning margin is the biggest margin so far in the series. Luckipar made 10-21 behind the 3-PT line. Hong-kuo played its worst game in the series with 22 turnovers and 40.8% shooting.
In the last game of the week, Dacin limited Mars to 12 points in the final quarter and escaped with a 97-94 come-from-behind overtime victory. Von Bennett scored 14 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter and pulled down 23 rebounds. Tiger PG Hong Yi-chun, who scored 6 of his 8 points in overtime, knocked down a three-pointer and completed a three-point play in the extra session.
Three Teams Re-join A-League
CTBA(Chinese Taipei Basketball Association) officially accepted Yulon, Dacin and Luckipar as its members on February 12. The three teams will start playing in the semi-pro A-League in April, after they finished the Millennium Series of the CBA.
However, the CTBA requires three teams playing a complete season, at least thru the end of the year, to prevent them from going back to the pro ranks if the CBA shows any "sign of life".
The Re-structure Committee of the CBA was dissppointed at the announcement. Sources say, the committee has set up the plan to re-open the season in November.
Hong-kuo, Mars and Hong-fu, the three remaining teams of the CBA all said they won't DROP BACK to the amateur ranks.
2/13 HONG-FU 94-92 YULON
HONG-FU - Mike Elliot 31p, 11rb, 5a, 6s ; Liao Wei-chen 18p, 6rb ; Shan Wei-fan 16p, 6rb ; Ma Chao-min 11p
YULON - Emmett Hall 30p, 11rb, 4a, 3s, 2blk ; Lee Yun-kuang 13p
2/12 LUCKIPAR 100-68 HONG-KUO
LUCKIPAR - Erik Martin 18p, 22rb, 11a, 5s, 4blk ; Hong Chan-chin 14p, 4s ; Yang Yu-min 16p
HONG-KUO - Rex manu 25p, 13rb ; Huang Chun-hsiung 13p, 5rb
2/11 DACIN 97-94(OT) MARS
DACIN - Von Bennett 26p, 23rb, 4a, 5blk ; Chen Jun-jie 18p, 7a ; Lin Chia-shen 18p
MARS - Matt Bryant 18p, 6rb ; Yen Hsin-shu 16p, 4a ; Brian Reese 15p, 9rb ; Lee Chi-yi 14p, 11rb
STANDINGS(thru February 13)
Yulon 5-1
Mars 3-3
Luckipar 3-3
Hong-kuo 3-3
Dacin 2-3
Hong-fu 1-4