All Chen Hsin-an needed was a three-point line and a free-throw line, because he could make nothing in between last night.
Chen Hsin-an had 29 points and 11 rebounds as Yulon beat Mars, 76-63, to clinch the final ticket to the Final series. Still, it was a bizarre experience for Chen, who made 5 of 8 from three-point country, 14 for 18 from the charity stripe but missed all 13 of his two-point attempts.
Always double-teamed by Mars defenders, Chen's shot couldn't find the basket in the first half. He entered the lockerroom without a field goal in halftime, when Yulon trailed 34-36. But Chen's five three-pointers in the second half finally opened up the game for Yulon, who outscored Mars 42-27 in the last two periods.
Chen became Yulon's only offensive option in an ugly game where no team can find the basket. Yulon only shot .370(23-62) and Mars were even more miserable at .303(20-66). Mars successfually controled Chen and the tempo in the first half but was plagued by their frontline foul trouble. Nothing went right for them in the second half.
Yulon will take on Dacin in the best-of-three Final series starting tomorrow. Mars will face Jutai in the other best-of-three consolation series.
**Results
Yulon 76-63 Mars(Yulon - Chen Hsin-an 29p+11rb, Chen Chih-chun 10p+4s, Chou Hong-yu 9p ; Mars - Lai Kuo-hong 14p, Yang Che-yi 12p, Lin Jia-huang 11p)
**Final Preliminary Round Standings
Dacin 7-0
Yulon 6-1
Mars 4-3
Jutai 4-3
BOT3-4
Taiwan Beer 2-5
Yi-tong 2-5
Military 0-7
Women's competition: Second Leg
**Results
Kuo-tai 77-61 Ya-dong
Chunghwa Telecom 77-67 Taiwan Powers
**Standings
Kuo-tai 3-0
Chunghwa Telecom 3-0
Tai-yuan 1-2
Taiwan Powers 1-2
Ya-dong 0-4