The hyped "Chen Hsin-an vs. Tien Lei" never became a reality. 204cm C Tsun Wen-din proved why he is the starting center on the national team by making 12 of 15 shots, scoring 26 points in the Game 1 of the President Finals tonight. Tsun, only 19 years-old, led Yulon to a 75-65 victory and a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series.
Tsun had a night when he just couldn't miss. He scored on mid-range jumpers, putbacks, dunks and fadeaway jumpshots. In addition to his hothand, Tsun had 5 steals and a block. Moreover, it's his defense on Tien Lei helped Yulon set the tone early, jumping to a 29-13 lead after the first quarter.
Surrounded by Tsun all night, Tien had only 16 points and 9 boards on 3-12 shooting. Chen Hsin-an also had a quiet game, collecting 12 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists before fouling out of the game with 5 minutes remaining.
Yulon quickly jumped to double-digit lead in the first quarter and never looked back. Dacin cut the deficit down to less than 10 a couple of times with the help of PG Huang Chih-chun's three-pointers. But they rushed their shots, missed some easy ones, and was quickly put away.
Yulon head coach Chien Yi-fei was satified with Yulon's teamwork. "It's our defense wins the game for us. And it's a team effort. I don't care how many points you score. You have to be able to defend to be my players." As for Tsun, "Sky's the limit for him. This kid still has a lot of room for improvement."
Yulon will look to finish the series tomorrow. Chien sais they don't want to have their back against the wall by losing Game 2 and have to play a deciding Game 3.
In the other series, Mars routed Jutai 89-63 to take a 1-0 lead in the third-place series.
**Results
Finals
Game 1: Yulon 75-65 Dacin(Half 45-28)
Yulon - Tsun Wen-din 26p(12-15 FG)+5rb+5s+1blk, Chen Hsin-an 12p(5-11 FG)+6rb+6a, Chou Hong-yu 11p, Chen Chih-chun 10p
Dacin - Huang Chih-chun 24p(8-13 FG, 5-8 3PT)+3a, Tien Lei 16p(3-12 FG)+9rb+4a+3blk, Lee Fong-yong 9p+9rb
3rd-place series
Game 1: Mars 89-63 Jutai(Half 50-33)
Mars - Lin Jen-da 25p(9-14 FG, 5-6 3PT), Chen Huei 16p+7a, Lee Chi-yi 14p+8rb+6a, Yang She-yi 12p, Cheng An-jay 10p+10rb
Jutai - Hu Yu-wei 14p, Chang Ya-tang 11p, Ha Hsiao-yuan 9p+10rb, Yang Yu-ming 9p