Thursday, January 30, 2003

President Cup - Tien Lei lifts Dacin over Yulon

Twenty minutes from losing the first A-League title in team history, Dacin refused to quit. Tien Lei had 32 points, 14 rebounds to lead Dacin storm back from a 13-point halftime deficit and upset Yulon, 82-77. Dacin tied the President Cup Finals at 1-1. On the second to last day of Chinese lunar year tomorrow, the President Cup title is on the line.

Dacin dug themselves a big hole, firing cluelessly from the outside and quickly trailed by double-digit before halftime. It seemed the President Cup title is Yulon's to lose coming to the fianl 20 minutes in the game.

Dacin head coach Liu Jia-fa turned to his spread offense and asked his players to be more patient, looking for the best open shot. Tien Lei and little guard Cheng Chan-jun took advantage of their speed and penetration, also combined for three back-breaking three-pointers in the third quarter. Dacin wasted no time to pull ahead, 60-56, after a 32-16 third quarter.

With center Tsun Wen-din fouling out in closing minutes, Dacin led as many as 10 points. Chen Hsin-an stepped up and kept the game close by scoring five straight points, including an NBA-range three-pointer. But Chang Chi-feng's three-pointer with less than a minute to go increased Dacin's lead to 5 points. After Chou Shih-yuan missed his three, Yulon had no chance.

In the third-place series, Mars had five players in double-digit to beat Jutai 77-70 and wrapped up the series with a 2-0 win.

**Results
Finals(Series tied 1-1)
Game 2: Dacin 82-77 Yulon(Half 27-40)
Dacin - Ten Lei 32p(10-20 FG)+14rb+4s, Chang Chi-feng 17p+6rb, Lee Fong-yong 15p, Cheng CHan-jun 12p+6rb
Yulon - Chen Chih-chun 19p(7-9 FG)+5s, Chen Hsin-an 15p+5rb+4a

3rd-place Series(Mars win 2-0)
Game 2: Mars77-70 Jutai(Half 35-35)
Mars - Lin Jia-huang 17p, Yang Che-yi 14p, Cheng An-jay 14p, Lee Chi-yi 12p+12rb+5a
Jutai - Lin Che-li 15p, Yang Yu-ming 11p+6rb+4a, Ha Hsiao-yuan 11p, Hsu Tse-shin 11p