Saturday, May 10, 2003

Chen Hsin-an: Yulon's "Mr. Clutch"

Chen Hsin-an had 12 points in the last 3:12 as Yulon overcame an 8-point deficit and edged Mars, 75-71, in Game 1 of the 2003 A-League Finals last night(May 9th). Yulon led 1-0 in the best-of-three series. In Game 1 of the 3rd-place series, Jutai beat Taiwan Beer, 98-86, in overtime.

Always surrounded by at least three Mars defenders, Chen Hsin-an was quiet in the first three quarters. But he once again came thru in crunch time. With 3 1/2 minutes to go, Yulon was down, 55-63. Chen finally broke free from Mars' defense and made three straight baskets -- including two three-pointers -- while added two free-throws.

Yulon, which hadn't got the lead since tipoff, rallied past Mars with the deciding 14-2 run.

Chen Hsin-an had 23 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists. Tsun Wen-din pulled down 11 boards and added 14 points. Chen Chih-chun also had 14 points for Yulon. Lin Jia-huang led Mars with 18 points. Lee Chi-yi had 15 and 14.

In the earlier matchup, Lo Jen-kun tied the score off an offensive rebound with 4.7 seconds remaining as Taiwan Beer extendeded the game into overtime, 82-82, with Jutai. But Jutai knocked down Taiwan Beer in the extra session with an unanswered 14-0 run and got away with the 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series.

With 21 seconds remaining when Jutai lead 82-80, Yang Yu-ming, who had 21 points in the game, missed both of his free-throws and the opportunity to go ahead with a four-point lead.

Taiwan Beer's Lin Chih-jay failed to made the first free-throw with 4.7 seconds to go and intentionally missed the second try. Lo Jen-qun came away with the offensive board and put in the tying basket.

But Taiwan Beer was out of sync after both of its point guards, Chen Shih-nian and Yo Yu-lun, fouled out. Jutai made this game looked easy after scoring 14 straight points.

Jutai's Hu Yu-wei had a breakout performance with 23 points on 10-for-16 shooting. Wu Yang-huei led TB with 25 points and 8 rebounds.

Finals Game 1
Yulon 75-71 Mars(halftime 28-39)
Yulon - Chen Hsin-an 23p+9rb, Tsun Wen-din 14p+14rb, Chen Chih-chun 14p ; Mars - Lin Jia-huang 18p, Lee Chi-yi 15p+14rb, Lai Kuo-hong 10p, Yang Che-yi 10p

3rd-place series Game 1
Jutai 98-86(OT) Taiwan Beer(halftime 43-43)
Jutai - Hu Yu-wei 23p, Yang Yu-ming 21+8rb, Jong Wei-kuo 16p+5a, Ha Xiao-yuan 11p+13rb ; TB - Wu Yang-huei 25p+8rb, Lin Chi-jay 19p+9rb, Chang Hsien-ming 13p, Wu Chih-yuan 10p+10rb