Chen Shih-nian and Lin Chi-jay scored 21 points apiece as Taiwan Beer beat Dacin 90-80 Saturday, snapping Dacin's 5-game winning streak, and will look to clinch a playoff seed tonight when it meets last-placed YMY.
Yulon (18-6) and Dacin (17-8) were the only teams that clinched for the playoffs.
Tien Lei followed his career-high 46 points Friday (vs. BOT) with 31 points and 12 rebounds but had no help from his teammates in the losing effort, which was only its second loss in the last 13 games.
Meanwhile, BOT kept pushing for the first playoff appearance in three years by beating ETSN, 90-84, with a late 11-0 run in crunch time. BOT won four of its last five and led VL by a half game while ETSN dropped three straight.
BOT will meet VL tonight in one of the most important games before the playoffs. If BOT wins it will lead VL by one and a half games and is one step closer to the postseason.
The comeback of Chien Ming-fu, who has been suspended for two games along with YMY forward Lu Jia-hao for fighting, will be good news for BOT.
For YMY, it still hasn't seen the light in the end of the tunnel. YMY pushed its SBL all-time losing streak to 20 games after losing to Yulon 118-98.
ETSN is no better, although mathametically it's not out of playoffs yet. All season long ETSN head coach Lee Yun-hsiang changed his starting lineups on game-to-game basis. Lee has been known for managing egos but obviously he has to know how to manage the game first.
March 3
Dacin 106-84 BOT
Dacin: Tien Lei 46p+17rb+6s, Wang Chih-chun 19p, Chang Chi-feng 15p
BOT: Yang Chin-min 20p, Chen Shun-hsiang 16p
VL 82-73 ETSN
VL: Lee Chi-yi 21p+10rb, Yang Che-yi 17p, Chen Huei 16p
ETSN: Yang Yu-min 22p
March 4
Yulon 118-98 YMY
Yulon: Tsun Wen-din 23p, Lu Cheng-ju 20p, Chou Shih-yuan 16p, Wu Chih-wei 16p
YMY: Chien Jia-hong 19p, Lo Shin-liang 16p
BOT 90-84 ETSN
BOT: Wu Yong-jen 23p, Chen Shun-hsiang 21p+4blk, Yang Chin-min 18p
ETSN: Yang Yu-min 20p, Wu Jun-hsiung 15p+10rb
TB 90-80 Dacin
TB: Chen Shih-nian 21p+10rb, Lin Chi-jay 21p+8rb
Dacin: Tien Lei 31p+12rb, Chang Chi-feng 17p, Wang Chih-chun 16p
Standings:
Yulon 18-6, TB 16-7, Dacin 17-8, BOT 12-13, VL 11-13, ETSN 8-16, YMY 2-21