Lin Chun-feng, Yua Ying-li help BOT upset TB in OT

Lin Chun-feng had 34 points and Yua Ying-li had 30 points -- both career-highs -- as Bank of Taiwan upset Taiwan Beer 104-100 in overtime Sunday and finished the week 3-0. BOT is now 11-12 at 4th place, one game ahead of VL, and looking at the playoffs for the first time in three years.

Chou Shih-yuan's three-pointer with 5.7 seconds remaining helped Yulon edge Videoland 80-77 and stay at No.1. Chou, who had 10 points, made only one of 10 3PT attempts before the game winner.

Dacin 88-73 ETSN
Dacin: Tien Lei 20p+11rb+4a+3blk+2s, Chang Chi-feng 20+5rb+5a, Wang Chih-chun 13p+5a
ETSN: Huang Bao-tse 14p, Cheng Jen-wei 13p

BOT 114-110(OT) TB
BOT: Lin Chun-feng 34p+8rb, Yua Ying-li 3p+8rb, Ju Yong-hong 12p+9rb
TB: Lin Chi-jay 28p, Wu Chih-yuan 23p, Ho Sho-jen 19p

Yulon 80-77 Videoland
Yulon: Tsun Wen-din 20p+15rb+5a, Chen Chih-chun 18p, Wei Yong-tai 12p
VL: Yang Che-yi 22p+9rb, Hong Chi-chao 17p+10rb+5a, Lai Kuo-hong 15p, Lee Chi-yi 14p+9rb

Standings:
Yulon 17-6, TB 16-7, Dacin 15-7, BOT 11-12, VL 10-13, ETSN 8-14, YMY 2-20

TB beat Yulon again in overtime

Ho Sho-jen scored eight of his 13 points in overtime as Taiwan Beer took advantage of Yulon center Tsun Wen-din's absence in the final minute and beat Yulon 110-103 Saturday. TB is now 3-1 vs. Yulon this season.

Ho Sho-jen made a four-point play and scored on a putback in the final two minutes, when Yulon failed to score on consecutive possessions after Tsun Wen-din fouled out of the game.

Taiwan Beer beat Yulon for the third consecutive time, which has never happen before. Lin Chi-jay, SBL leading scorer, had 21 points and 11 rebounds. PG Chen Shih-nian scored a team-high 24 points.

Tsun Wen-din had 26 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out with 34 seconds left in regulation. Chen Chih-chun led Yulon with 28 points.

BOT, who got a notorious win Friday night, rallied with a 10-point deficit in the final three minutes and upset Videoland 99-96. BOT, 3-1 vs. VL this season, is now tied 4th with VL at 10-12.

ETSN handed YMY its 19th consecutive defeat. But the chao continued after Friday. ETSN head coach Lee Yun-hsiang threatened to hit a referee after the game before being pulled aside by his players. Lee blasted the ref for his officiating.

Standings:
Yulon 16-6, TB 15-6, Dacin 15-7, BOT 10-12, VL 10-12, ETSN 8-13, YMY 2-20

2/24
BOT 20-0 YMY
YMY refused to play as the game was forfeited.

Dacin 105-82 VL
Dacin: Tien Lei 33p+13rb+4a+3s, Lin Yi-huei 23p, Chang Chi-feng 18, Su Yi-chieh 16
VL: Li Chi-yi 19p+10rb, Yang Che-yi 13p

2/25
ETSN 88-85 YMY
ETSN: Yang Yu-min 27p, O-Yang Jin-hen 17p, Chou Jun-san 10p
YMY: Lo Shin-liang 19p, Wang Chuan-jian 15p, Chang Yu-lin 15p

BOT 99-96 VL
BOT: Chen Shun-hsiang 23p, Wu Yong-jen 23p, Lin Chun-feng 20p
VL: Lai Kuo-hong 25p+7rb, Yang Che-yi 24p, Lee Chi-yi 16p+9rb+5a

TB 110-103(OT) Yulon
TB: Chen Shih-nian 24p, Lin Chi-jay 21p+11rb, Wu Chih-yuan 19p, Ho Sho-jen 13p
Yulon: Chen Chih-chun 28p, Tsun Wen-din 26p+10rb, Chou Shih-yuan 25p

YMY refuses to play, game forfeited

YMY refused to play after a fight broke out and a series of controversial calls in the game versus Bank of Taiwan Friday as the game was forfeited. According to the official rule, BOT won the game with the score of 20-0.

With 28.2 seconds to go in the first half, Chien Ming-fu of BOT and Lu Jia-hao of YMY engaged in a fist fight and players of both teams left bench in a chaotic scene.

However, only Chien and Lu were ejected by the refs. YMY claimed there should be more BOT players ejected for leaving bench and refused to play the game.

The game was called off 80 minutes later as the refs were unsure what to do. Local newspaper published Saturday described the game and the referees as "ridiculous".

CTBA will hold a special technical meeting later this week and make the final decision on penalty.

High school league men's and women's final four determined

Results after the second round:

Men's Final Four
1. Hsin-jung HS 6-1(W-L)
2. Nan-shan HS 5-2
3. Nen-jen HS 5-2
4. San-min HS 3-4
5-8th place
5. San-chun HS 3-4
6. Gao-yuan HS 3-4
7. Yi-lan HS 2-5
8. Chiang-shu HS 1-6

Women's Final Four
1. Hai-shan HS 7-0
2. Tamshui HS 6-1
3. Jin-O HS 5-2
4. TFGHS(Taipei First Girl High School) 4-3
5-8th place
5. Pu-man HS 2-5
6. Miao-li HS 2-5
7. Yang-min HS 2-5
8. Hu-jiang HS 0-7

Final Four date: March 14-17
Venue: Taipei Arena

Tien Lei scores 43 as Dacin closes in on TB

Tien Lei tortured YMY once again, scoring 43 points as Dacin (14-7) cruised by YMY 95-79 and closed in on second place TB (14-6) with only a half game behind.

Throwing as many as three different defenders, YMY still couldn't find the solution of Tien Lei, who scored a career-high 45 points in the Feb. 5 matchup of both sides. Tien once again fired at will inside or outside and was three points short of the new personal record.

Starting in late third quarter, Dacin went to Tien Lei almost on every possession trying to give him a new career-high. Tien was obviously tired, however, as he missed time and again.

Still, this is the third highest scoring output behind Chen Hsin-an's SBL all-time high of 52 points and Tien's 45.

YMY lost its 17th straight. Second-year forward Wang Chuan-jian had a career-high 32 points.

With about 10 games to go in the season, three of the four playoff seeds are almost set. Yulon, TB and Dacin are definitely in. VL, thanks to the three-game winning streak and BOT's three-game skid, is leading BOT by two games and is favored to get the final ticket.

Dacin 95-79 YMY
Dacin: Tien Lei 43p(13-33 FG)+15rb+3s, Chang Chi-feng 21p, Su Yi-chieh 14p+5a
YMY: Wang Chuan-jian 32p, Chen Shi-jay 12p

Yulon 98-88 BOT
Yulon: Chen Chih-chun 28, Lee Hsueh-lin 23p, Tsun Wen-din 20p+13rb
BOT: Wang Shin-kai 17p, Chuan Hsiao-wen 16p, Ju Yong-hong 14p, Cheng An-jay 14p

TB 90-70 ETSN
TB: Ho Sho-jen 20, Wu Chih-yuan 18p, Lin Chi-jay 12p+7rb+10TO
ETSN: Yang Yu-min 17p, O-Yang Jin-hen 13p

*Standings:
Yulon 16-5, TB 14-6, Dacin 14-7, VL 10-10, BOT 8-12, ETSN 7-13, YMY 2-18

Videoland breaks off slump with three-game winning streak

Videoland defeated YMY and Taiwan Beer in two days and came up with a three-game winning streak that boosted its record back to .500 (10-10).

Lee Chi-yi had 17 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 blocks and Chen Huei had 13 points, 7 reounds, 8 assists and 4 steals in the 84-70 win over YMY. Chen Huei then scored 22 points in a convincing win over Taiwan Beer, which dropped to second place after the loss.

Dacin suffered the biggest loss of the season in a highly-anticipated game vs. Yulon Friday with Tien Lei scoring only 4 points, his lowest scoring output of the season, in 16 minutes. Dacin lost the game 89-66.

Meanwhile, YMY's all-time losing streak record sees no end as it has lost 16 straight.

Feb. 17
VL 84-70 YMY
VL: Lee Chi-yi 17p+9rb+5a+4blk, Chen Huei 13p+7rb+8a+4s, Yang Che-yi 16p, Hong Chi-chao 14p
YMY: Lo Shin-liang 16p, Kao Li-min 13p

Yulon 89-66 Dacin
Yulon: Tsun Wen-din 22p, Chou Shih-yuan 17p, Wu Chih-wei 15p
Dacin: Lin Yi-huei 19p+6rb, Tien Lei 4p

Feb. 18
VL 94-82 TB
VL: Chen Huei 22p, Lai Kuo-hong 19p+7rb, Hong Chi-chao 15p+8rb+4a, Hu Yu-wei 13p
TB: Lin Chi-jay 21p, Ho Sho-jen 20p

Dacin 84-79 BOT
Dacin: Tien Lei 33p+7rb, Chang Chi-feng 17p+11rb+7a+4s
BOT: Wu Yong-jen 13p, Ju Yong-hong 13p

Yulon 84-77 ETSN
Yulon: Chou Shih-yuan 18p, Chen Chih-chun 17p+8rb+7a, Wu Chih-wei 14p, Tsun Wen-din 13p+14rb+4blk
ETSN: Yang Yu-min 21p, O-Yang Jin-hen 11p

*Standings:
Yulon 15-5, TB 13-6, Dacin 13-7, VL 10-10, BOT 8-11, ETSN 7-12, YMY 2-17

Taiwan women's NT to play in 4-nation tourney in Australia

The Australians reported that Taiwan will enter a four-nation women's basketball tournament to be held in Australia in April for the preparation of the upcoming World Championship in Brazil. The other participating teams will be host Australia, China and the U.S.

The four-nation tournament with China and Taiwan is to be held at the Cairns Entertainment Centre on April 7 and 8 and the AIS Arena in Canberra from April 10-12. The tournament is a warm-up for the world championships in Sao Paulo, Brazil from September 12-23.

Taiwan is ranked 24th in the world by FIBA and finished 14th at the 2002 world championships in China.

Chen Hsin-an turns down offer to play in Japan

Ming-shen Daily reported Chen Hsin-an has turned down the offer to play in Japan's BJ League, citing concerns about his knee injury.

Chen said yesterday he would not sign with Osaka Evessa. "The decision is based on my knee injury and has nothing to do with Osaka's offer. Their offer is great. The organization is great. Hopefully someday I can play for them, " Chen said.

"I want to make sure the injury is 100% healed and do not to rush it [to get back on the court]."

A free agent, Chen was invited by Evessa and went to Osaka for a tryout earlier this month. He is currently unsigned but practicing with his former team Yulon. Chen is expected to re-join Yulon next season.

Chen left Yulon last summer but failed to reach agreement with ETSN after signing a letter of intent. The original contract was estimately worth 3-year, NT$15 million. Both sides engaged in a series of dispute but didn't take any legal action.

TB upsets Yulon 86-83, tops standings

Led by Lin Chi-jay's 27 points and 11 rebounds, Taiwan Beer tied Yulon at the top of the standings after an 86-83 victory over Yulon Sunday. TB and Yulon are both 13-5 after the game but, technically, TB is the No.1 team for now because of a better 2-1 matchup record.

Yang Yu-min had a season-high 35 points as ETSN beat YMY 89-80. YMY extended its league-record losing streak to 15 games.

TB 86-83 Yulon
TB: Lin Chi-jay 27p+11rb, Chen Shih-nian 16p+6a+4s, Ho Sho-jen 11p, Ha Hsiao-yuan 11p
Yulon: Tsun Wen-din 25p+18rb, Wei Yong-tai 16p, Chen Chih-chun 10p, Lee Hsueh-lin 10p

ETSN 89-80 YMY
ETSN: Yang Yu-min 35p, Wu Jia-long 20p
YMY: Lo Shin-liang 28p, Chien Jia-hong 23p

VL 89-78 BOT
VL: Yang Che-yi 31p+13rb, Lee Chi-yi 13p, Lai Kuo-hong 12p+7rb, Hu Yu-wei 12p+7rb
BOT: Ju Yong-hong 23p+11rb, Chien Ming-fu 18p+4s, Lin Chun-fong 15p

SBL All-Star Game: Tsun Wen-din wins MVP, Red Team beat White Team 140-136

Yulon center Tsun Wen-din had 28 points and 11 rebounds and led Team Red Knight to a close 140-136 victory over Team White Knight in the annual SBL All-Star Game. Tsun was voted the Most Valuable Player.

Red Team 140-136 White Team
Red: Tsun Wen-din 28p+11rb, Chien Ming-fu 15p, Yang Chin-min 15p, Wu Yong-jen 14p, Lu Cheng-ju 13p, Chen Chih-chun 12p, Cheng An-jay 11p, Chou Shih-yuan 10p
White: Tien Lei 31p+10rb, Lo Shin-liang 22p, Yang Yu-min 20p, Che Shih-nian 14p, Wang Chih-chun 12p

*YMY forward Chang Yu-lin wins Slam Dunk Contest
Playoffs (Two dunks):
Chang Yu-lin(YMY) 99 points
Cheng Jen-wei(ETSN) 92 points
Wu Chih-yuan(TB) 89 points

First Round (Two Dunks):
Chang yu-lin 100 points
Wu Chih-yuan 97 points
Cheng Jen-wei 95 points
Hsu Wei-shen(Yulon)
Yua Yin-li(BOT)

*Yulon guard Lee Hsueh-lin wins Three-Point Shootout
Lee Hsueh-lin missed his first five attempts in the playoffs but made 17 of the final 20, edging out Dacin's Wang Chih-chun as the new Three-Point Shootout champion.

Playoffs:
Lee Hsueh-lin(Yulon) 21 points
Wang Chih-chun(Dacin) 19 points
Wu Yong-jen(BOT) 18 points
Chou Shih-yuan(Yulon) 10 points

First Round:
Lee Hsueh-lin 19 points
Wu Yong-jen 18 points
Chou Shih-yuan 18 points
Wang Chih-chun 18 points
Hong Chih-shan(YMY) 17 points
Hsu Hao-cheng(TB) 16 points
Chen Li-wei(VL) 16 points
Wu Cheng-yu(VL) 15 points
Chuan Hsiao-wen 13 points
Zuo Tsun-kai(YMY) 11 points
Yang Yu-min(ETSN) 9 points
Shan Wei-fan(TB) 8 points
Hsu Tse-shin(ETSN) 8 points
Chang Chi-feng(Dacin) 3 points

*Former CBA player Rex Manu scored 32 points in Legends-Rookies Game
38 year-old Rex Manu, who played for Hong-kuo Elephants in the now-defunct professional league CBA(Chinese Basketball Alliance), scored 32 points as Legends beat Rookies 95-91 in the annual exhibition game which has become a part of the SBL All-Star weekend tradition.

Chen Hsin-an, who sits out the SBL this season as a free agent, was granted a special spot on the Rookies and scored a team-high 21 points.

Legends 95-91 Rookies
Legends: Rex Manu 32p, Chen Jian-chou 18p+6a, Hsu Chi-chao 15p
Rookies: Chen Hsin-an 21p, Cheng Jen-wei 13p

YMY breaks SBL record with 14-game losing streak

YMY (2-15) lost its 14th straight game in a 83-73 loss to BOT and set SBL single-season losing streak record, breaking the old 13-game losing streak record which was also set by YMY last season.

Wang Chih-chun made a game-deciding three-pointer with 1.5 seconds left and help Dacin upset VL 74-73. Dacin (12-6) entered the All-Star Game, which will be played today, with a 6-game winning streak and is now only a half game behind the second place Taiwan Beer (12-5). The 6-game winning streak is the longest winning streak in Dacin team history.

With 16.4 seconds left and trailing by two, Dacin head coach Liu Jia-fa decided to go for a three in the last possession and had happy results.

Videoland (7-10) is in another slump after losing three consecutive games.

Dacin 74-73 Videoland
Dacin: Tien Lei 23p+15rb, Chang Chi-feng 16p, Wang Chih-chun 13p
VL: Lee Chi-yi 25p+11rb+5a, Yang Che-yi 15p, Chen Huei 13p+11rb

BOT 83-73 YMY
BOT: Chien Ming-fu 17p, Yang Chin-min 15p, Lin Chun-feng 13p, Wu Yong-jen 11p+6rb+7a
YMY: Chien Jia-hong 16p, Wang Chuan-jian 15p+6blk, Chen Shi-jay 14p+8rb

*Lin Chi-jay repeats as January MVP

Taiwan Beer forward Lin Chi-jay, who averaged 26.7 points in January, was voted MVP of January and became the first repeating MVP of the Month in SBL history.

*Standings
Yulon 13-4, TB 12-5, Dacin 12-6, BOT 8-9, Videoland 7-10, ETSN 6-11, YMY 2-15

Tien Lei's SBL season-high 45 helps Dacin win 5th straight

Tien Lei and Lin Chi-jay are really going at each other. A little more than one hour after Lin Chi-jay set the SBL season-high 42 points last Sunday, Tien Lei scored 45 to break the record and led Dacin to its fifth consecutive win.

Current SBL single-game record is hold by Chen Hsin-an, who scored 52 points in a game last season.

And that was after the classic dual last Friday, when Dacin edged Taiwan Beer 88-87 on Chang Chi-feng's buzzer-beating three-pointer. Tien scored 37 in the game while Lin had 36.

Tien Lei, SBL's No.2 leading scorer behind Lin Chi-jay, has risen to the occassion after PF Lee Fong-yong went down with an injury as the focal point of Dacin offense in the past two weeks. He averaged 34.8 points in five games, all Dacin victories.

But Lin is not far behind, averaging 34.2 points in the last five games. He made 19 of 23 free-throws in the game vs. YMY last Saturday. Both his free-throw attempts and made set SBL single-game records.

YMY keeps sliding after dropping its 12th straight. Videoland is also in a slump after losing both games last week.

Feb. 4
ETSN 95-76 VL
ETSN: Yang Yu-min 17p, Cheng Jen-wei 15p, Hsiao Yuan-chan 14p+8rb
VL: Hu Yu-wei 13p, Chen Huei 13p

TB 88-85 YMY
TB: Lin Chi-jay 31p(19-23 FT)+7rb+4a, Chen Shi-nian 19p, Ha Hsiao-yuan 12p+9rb
YMY: Lo Shin-liang 23p, Hong Chih-shan 18p(6-7 3PT)+4a, Chien Jia-hong 11p+9rb

Dacin 91-70 BOT
Dacin: Tien Lei 22p+13rb+2blk+3s, Chang Chi-feng 19p
BOT: Yua Yin-li 12p

Feb. 5
TB 88-83 ETSN
TB: Lin Chi-jay 42p(11-18 FG, 16-17 FT)+11rb, Ha Hsiao-yuan 12p
ETSN: Yang Yu-min 34p, Cheng Jen-wei 14p

Dacin 96-86 YMY
Dacin: Tien Lei 45p(16-32 FG)+14rb, Chang Chi-feng 30p(11-15 FG)+8rb+4a
YMY: Lo Shin-liang 23p, Chen Shi-jay 13p

Yulon 83-77 VL
Yulon: Chou Shih-yuan 26p, Wu Chih-wei 13p, Tsun Wen-din 12p+12rb
VL: Yang Che-yi 21p+10rb, Chen Huei 19p+7a, Hong Chi-chao 18p

Standings:
Yulon 13-4, TB 12-5, Dacin 11-6, VL 7-9, BOT 7-9, ETSN 6-11, YMY 2-14

Dacin edged TB on Chang Chi-feng's buzzer-beater

Chang Chi-feng made a buzzer-beating three-point bank shot as time expired to help Dacin edge Taiwan Beer 89-88 on the first game day after the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday. Dacin (9-6) beat TB for the first time this season in three meetings and is now only one game behind second-place TB (10-5).

TB point guard Hsu Hao-cheng made a jumper at the top of the key to break the tie with 21.8 seconds left, when the score was 88-86. Wang Chih-chun's three-pointer shot missed the rim but Dacin got the last possession with 2.1 seconds to go and called a timeout.

Chang Chi-feng came through a double-pick to receive the inbound pass before taking two dribbles and firing the desperation shot in front of two TB defenders at the left corner. The bank shot miraculously went in as time expired and started a wild celebration by Dacin players.

It was another heartbreaker for Taiwan Beer. "I was stunned [to see the shot go in], " said TB head coach Yen Jia-hua, who witnessed his team lost to VL on Yang Che-yi's buzzer-beater earlier in the season. He said: "But you have to give credit to Chang."

TB also lost to BOT before the New Year break when Wang Jian-wei missed two potential game-winning free-throws with 2.8 seconds left in the game.

Dacin is on a three-game winning streak after losing three straight.

Yulon 94-73 BOT (Tsun Wen-din 21p+10rb+5a+4blk, Lee Hsueh-lin 14p+5a, Chen Chih-chun 13p+7rb+7a, Wu Chih-wei 12p ; Yua Yin-li 14p, Cheng An-jay 8p+11rb, Wu Yong-jen 11p)

Dacin 89-88 TB (Tien Lei 37p+13rb, Lin Yi-huei 20p, Wang Chih-chun 14p, Chang Chi-feng 11p ; Lin Chi-jay 36p, Chen Shih-nian 20p)

Standings:
Yulon 12-4, TB 10-5, Dacin 9-6, VL 7-7, BOT 7-8, ETSN 5-10, YMY 2-12