Tuesday, July 17, 2001

SINA Wins 4-Nations Tournament

Lo Shin-liang scored 12 of his game-high 39 points in the overtime as SINA beat Taiwan NT 94-90 in the final game of the 4-Nations Invitational Tournament on July 15. SINA took home the championship trophy with a perfect 6-0 record, while Taiwan NT finished with 4-2, losing both games to SINA.

Lo Shin-liang, who shot 11 for 24 from the field and 13 of 14 from the free-throw line, was virtually unstoppable all game, especially in the overtime, when he scored 12 of 13 SINA points and sealed the victory with two three-pointers and the final free-throws. It's quite obvious Lo approached the game as his revenge of not selecting to the national team.

SINA overcame the furious rally of Taiwan NT in the fourth quarter and took the 81-78 lead with 8.4 seconds remaining in regulation. Following the final timeout, Taiwan NT head coach Lee Yun-kwang's strategy of putting five shooters on the floor worked beautifully. Lin Jia-huang's three-point prayer caught nothing but net and even the score at 81 all. But that would be the final highlight of the game for Taiwan NT.

SINA destroyed Taiwan NT on the boards with an unbelievable 45-23 rebounding advantage. Taiwan NT time and again failed to protect the defensive rebounds, which is the most glaring weakness for the team and probably will cost them a lot in the ABC Championship.

■Game Summary
SINA 94-90 (OT) Taiwan NT
SINA - Lo Shin-liang 39p ; Lai Kuo-hong 22p ; Huang Chun-hsiung 8p+16rb
TW - Tien Lei 16p ; Yang Yu-min 13p ; Chen Chih-chun 13p ; Chou Hong-yu 10p ; Wu Chih-wei 10p

Kuwait 84-73 Philippines
KUW - O. Al Farhan 13p+10rb ; H. Batoon 14p
PHI - A. Vergarda 25p ; Y. De Ocampo 10p+10rb ; R. De Ocampo 10p+10rb

■Final Standings
SINA 6-0
Taiwan NT 4-2
Kuwait 2-4
Philippines 0-6