Sunday, April 30, 2006

WSBL 2006 season summary

On March 9 Cathay Life won its 15th consecutive women's title, which was unbelievable but had become somewhat a norm for Taiwanese fans.

WSBL Finals: Cathay Life 2-0 Taiyuan Textile
Game 1: Cathay Life 85-79 Taiyuan Textile
Game 2: Cathay Life 72-67 Taiyuan Textile

Third-place Series: Chunghwa Telecom 2-1 TaiPower
Game 1: Chunghwa Telecom 79-75 TaiPower
Game 2: TaiPower 74-64 Chunghwa Telecom
Game 3: Chunghwa Telecom 71-66 TaiPower

SBL Finals - Yulon rallied to take Game 1

Chou Shih-yuan walked out of his month-long slump at the right time, scoring 23 points and helping Yulon rally from a 14-point deficit to beat Taiwan Beer 81-79 in Game 1 of the SBL Finals Saturday.

Tsun Wen-din added 20 points and 11 boards in Yulon's 7th consecutive win in the SBL Finals. Yulon swept SINA and Dacin 3-0 in the Finals previous two years.

Trailing by 10 in the end of the third quarter, Yulon picked up its defensive intensity in the final quarter and forced Taiwan Beer scoreless in the first four minutes and the final 2:50. TB was hurt by point guard Chen Shih-nian's turnover with 20 seconds left when the scored was tied.

Tsun Wen-din, who scored 10 points in the final 10 minutes, made both free-throws with 7.7 seconds to go before Shan Wei-fan missed a desperation 3-pointer.

Chou Shih-yuan, who averaged 7.5 points in the first round, shot 9 for 17 from the field. His two 3-pointers in the third quarter kept Yulon in the game.

Taiwan Beer was unstoppable from the start and took a 20-6 lead. Yulon didn't take the lead until late in the 4th quarter. Lin Chi-jay led TB with 23 points.

Game 1: Yulon 81-79 TB (40-50)
Yulon leads 1-0
Yulon: Chou Shih-yuan 23p, Tsun Wen-din 20p+11rb+7TO, Lee Hsueh-lin 15p+5a, Chen Chih-chun 11p+7rb+4a
TB: Lin Chi-jay 23p, Wu Chih-yuan 16p+10rb

Friday, April 28, 2006

TB wins Game 5, advances to SBL Finals

Led by (who else?) Lin Chi-jay, who had a game-high 33 points, Taiwan Beer routed Dacin Tigers 90-76 in the decisive Game 5 and advanced to the SBL Finals for the first time in team history.

TB became the first team in SBL playoff history to overcome a 0-2 deficit and win a five-game series. It also overcame an 8-point deficit at halftime and turned the game a rout in the second half, when TB outscored Dacin 52-30.

Lin Chi-jay took the game on his shoulder by scoring 23 points in the second half, including 13 straight points during one stretch. Ho Sho-jen's two timely 3-pointers crushed Dacin and help TB to lead by as many as 20 points in the 4th quarter.

TB will meet defending champ Yulon in the best-of-three SBL Finals, which tips-off on Saturday.

Dacin failed to make the Finals for consecutive years and has to meet Bank of Taiwan, which scared Yulon in the first round before bowing out 3-1, in the third-place series (Best-of-Five).

Game 5: TB 90-76 Dacin (Half 38-46)
TB wins series 3-2
TB: Lin Chi-jay 33p(11-23 FG)+11rb+5a, Ho Sho-jen 22p(9-14 FG)+8rb, Shan Wei-fan 17p
Dacin: Tien Lei 24p(11-23 FG)+16rb, Su Yi-chieh 14p

Thursday, April 27, 2006

Yulon advances to Finals after classic 3OT win

Yulon beat Bank of Taiwan 107-102 in the first three-overtime game in SBL history and advanced to the SBL Finals for the third straight year Wednesday. Yulon, which wrapped up the series 3-1, will meet the winner of Dacin-TB series tonight in the Finals.

BOT forward/guard Yang Chin-min, a national team player who has been in coach Wei Chen-ming's doghouse for most of the season, rose to the occasion and became the hero of the night.

Yang, who had 32 points and 11 rebounds, single-handedly took the game to three overtimes. He twice scored tying baskets that extended the game in the end of regualation and the second overtime, while dished out an assist that led to a buzzerbeating layup by Cheng An-jay in the end of the first overtime.

BOT couldn't run with experienced Yulon after losing four players to disqualification in the third overtime, falling 107-102 in the end.

However, BOT won the heart of every basketball fan in the past week as it became a team that refused to lose and the first team to cause big trouble to the seemingly invincible Yulon in years.

The biggest losing margin for BOT in three losses is a mere six points. And BOT stayed in EVERY game.

Unfortunately, BOT needs to know how to WIN the game. Yulon center Tsun Wen-din exploded for a career-high 45 points in the final game as BOT decided to defend him with single coverage most of the time.

"This is definitely Yulon's toughest playoff series in the past three years. My hat is off for my former classmate and teammate Wei Chen-ming. BOT is a very good team under him, " said Yulon head coach Lee Yun-kwang, who was in the same backcourt with Wei in junior high.

In the other game, Taiwan Beer led from start to finish in a series-tying 82-73 win over Dacin. Lin Chi-jay led TB with 25 points and 9 boards while Tien Lei had a MEDIOCRE game of 20 points and 11 rebounds.

The game was not only dramatic because TB was facing elimination but also because of Dacin's statement on Tuesday. Dacin claimed it will file a lawsuit on Taiwan Beer guard Lee Wei-ming for aggravated assault.

Lee's defense in the final seconds of Game 3 caused Dacin guard Wang Chih-chun a mild concussion. Wang will miss the rest of the playoffs.

TB shot 56% in the two-point range and its tenacious defense limited Dacin to seven 3-pointers in the game and led by as many as 15 in the 4th quarter. Dacin couldn't find the basket even on the free-throw line, shooting a horrible 8 for 15.

Game 5 of Dacin-TB series will be played tonight at 7PM. The best-of-seven SBL Finals will start Saturday (April 29).

Game 4: Yulon 107-102 (3OT) BOT Yulon wins series 3-1
Yulon: Tsun Wen-din 45p(16-29 FG, 13-17 FT)+17rb+6blk, Chen Chih-chun 14p, Lee Hsueh-lin 14p+7rb+5a+3s, Chou Hong-yu 13p+6rb, Chou Shih-yuan 11p
BOT: Yang Chin-min 32p+11rb, Cheng An-jay 14p+12rb, Wu Yong-jen 19p, Yua Yin-li 15p, Lin Chun-feng 13p

Game 4: TB 82-73 Dacin (43-34) Series tied 2-2
TB: Lin Chi-jay 25p+9rb, Ho Sho-jen 14p, Shan Wei-fan 12p, Chen Shih-nian 12p, Hsu Hao-cheng 10p
Dacin: Tien Lei 20p+11rb, Chang Chi-feng 21p+9rb, Chen Tse-wei 12p+6rb

Sunday, April 23, 2006

BOT, TB made sure no sweep in SBL playoffs first round

Ju Yong-hong tipped in Yang Chin-min's missed layup just before the final buzzer as Bank of Taiwan achieved the impossible, beating defending champ Yulon 98-97 in Game 3 of the SBL first round playoffs to escape from elimination. Yulon leads the series 2-1.

Also facing elimination, Taiwan Beer beat Dacin 89-84 to get its first playoff victory in team SBL history as Lin Chi-jay and Ho Sho-jen scored 30 and 25 points respectively. TB now trails 2-1.

Yulon led by one, 97-96, with 24.1 seconds to go. BOT got back the possession after the ball went out of bound but Yulon head coach Lee Yun-kwang called a timeout, giving BOT the time to regroup.

Yang Chin-min, who had a team-high 26 points, made a hard drive to the hole in the last possession and missed, but Ju Yong-hong tipped in the ball at the buzzer, giving BOT the improbable victory.

Lee Yun-kwang regretted calling the ill-fated timeout after the game. This is BOT's second win over Yulon in the last three years -- regular season and playoffs combined.

Ho Sho-jen scored 9 points in TB's 15-0 run as TB led 77-68 midway through the 4th quarter. Ho's two 3-pointers help TB to a 10 point lead with 45 seconds left before Dacin made three straight threes to cut the deficit down to two points, 86-84.

Ho's fastbreak layup increased the lead to four points as Cheng Chan-jun's desperation 3-pointer missed the rim.

Ho Sho-jen scored 25 points, all in the second half. Lin Chi-jay was still brilliant with 30 points and 12 rebounds. Tien Lei led Dacin with 34 points and 12 boards.

Game 4 will be played Wednesday.

Game 3: TB 89-84 Dacin (38-42) Dacin leads 2-1
TB: Lin Chi-jay 30p+12rb+4a, Ho Sho-jen 25p, Wang Jian-wei 12p, Shan Wei-fan 10p
Dacin: Tien Lei 34p+12rb, Lin Yi-huei 15p, Chang Chi-feng 12p+7rb, Su Yi-chieh 11p

Game 3: BOT 98-97 Yulon (46-48) Yulon leads 2-1
BOT: Yang Chin-min 26p, Ju Yong-hong 23p+9rb, Wu Yong-jen 17p, Chien Ming-fu 15p
Yulon: Tsun Wen-din 27p+10rb+5blk+9TO, Chen Chih-chun 18p+9rb+6a, Lee Hsueh-lin 15p, Chou Shih-yuan 12p, Wu Chih-wei 10p

Yulon, Dacin one win away from SBL Finals rematch

Both SBL first round playoff games Saturday came down to the final minute as Yulon and Dacin took 2-0 leads and were one win away from the SBL Finals rematch.

Yulon swept Dacin 3-0 last year in the Finals to win back-to-back SBL title.

Game 2 of the Dacin-TB series was not decided until Dacin rookie Su Yi-chieh made a fadeaway jumper with 19 seconds left and Taiwan Beer forward Lin Chi-jay missed both of his potential game-tying free-throws with 5.4 seconds to go. Dacin edged TB 91-89 in Game 2 of the first round series.

Lin Chi-jay, who missed Game 1 due to a sprained left ankle, scored 32 points in 37 minutes. His presence gave TB a new-found confidence, although TB fell short again after the Game e1 rout.

In the other game, Yulon opened up a 25-12 lead over BOT in the end of the first quarter and led by as many as 19 in the second quarter. It looked like Yulon has wrapped up the win after a close Game 1 that surprised everyone.

But Chien Ming-fu, a 163cm point guard, refused to back down. Chien made three 3-pointers to lead a furious rally that cut the deficit to 4 points at halftime. BOT even took the lead late in the third quarter before Yulon pulled out a 14-0 run and regain a comfortable lead.

Exprience mattered in winning time. Chen Shun-hsiang missed a reversed layup and Chien Ming-fu missed a three in the last 20 seconds as Yulon edged BOT once again to take a 2-0 series lead.

Dacin got the win but probably lost Wang Chih-chun in the remainder of the postseason. Wang suffered a possible concussion in the last minute.

Game 2: Yulon 87-82 BOT (42-38) Yulon leads 2-0
Yulon: Tsun Wen-din 21p+9rb+3a+3blk, Lee Hsueh-lin 17p+8rb+6a, Chou Hong-yu 15p, Chen Chih-chun 14p+6a
BOT: Chien Ming-fu 26p(6-12 3PT), Yang Chin-min 19p, Yua Yin-li 12p+6rb, Cheng An-jay 10p+12rb

Game 2: Dacin 91-89 TB (56-50) Dacin leads 2-0
Dacin: Tien Lei 26p+9rb, Lin Yi-huei 19p+5s, Chen Tse-wei 13p+8rb, Su Yi-chieh 11p+6rb+6a
TB: Lin Chi-jay 32p, Chen Shih-nian 19p, Ho Sho-jen 11p, Shan Wei-fan 10p

Friday, April 21, 2006

Dacin, Yulon open SBL postseason with first round victories

A rout and a close game didn't surprise anyone. What surprised everyone was defending champion Yulon nearly lost its first playoff game in three years and Dacin pounded No.2 seed Taiwan Beer.

Yulon escaped with a 83-77 victory in Game 1 of the SBL first round playoffs while Dacin routed Taiwan Beer 96-73 in a game without TB leading scorer Lin Chi-jay. Yulon and Dacin both led the first round series 1-0.

Chen Chih-chun made a game-clinching 3-pointer with 13.3 seconds left to give Yulon its 10th straight playoff win. However Yulon came out rusty and did not look like a defending champ at all, see-sawing with BOT all game because of its careless defense.

Center Tsun Wen-din had 27 points, including 18 points in the second half as Yulon pulled away, leading by as many as 8 points in the fourth quarter.

However it was easy to see BOT wanted the victory more in the first SBL playoff game in team history. Center Ju Yong-hong had 18 points and 9 rebounds. Forward Yua Yin-li scored 13 points in 16 minutes. But SBL March/April MVP Chien Ming-fu missed potential game-tying 3-pointers in the last minute, when BOT rallied to cut the deficit to three points.

In the most anticipated matchup, the absence of Lin Chi-jay, who missed the game because of a sprained left ankle, virtually decided the outcome. Dacin used a 13-0 run in the opening quarter to open up the game and never looked back.

Games 2s will be played tomorrow.

Game 1: Dacin 96-73 TB (61-31) Dacin 1-0
Dacin: Chang Chi-feng 22p, Wang Chih-chun 17p(5-8 3PT), Tien Lei 15p+12rb, Chen Tse-wei 15p+8rb, Lin Yi-huei 11p
TB: Shan Wei-fan 15p, Pan Jen-der 10p, Lin Chi-jay DNP

Game 1: Yulon 83-77 BOT (40-38) Yulon 1-0
Yulon: Tsun Wen-din 27p+10rb, Chen Chih-chun 14p(4-6 3PT), Lee Hsueh-lin 14p+8rb, Wu Chih-wei 10p
BOT: Ju Yong-hong 18p+9rb, Wu Yong-jen 15p+6rb+5a, Yua Yin-li 13p

SBL postseason begins with first round matchups

Local news service Central News Agency (CNA) reported:

Taiwanese basketball will be at its best during the coming month as four teams kick off the Super Basketball League (SBL) post-season play that begins Friday, the league announced Thursday.

Two-time defending champions Yulon Dinos will meet Bank of Taiwan and Dacin Tigers will meet Taiwan Beer in the best-of-five first round playoffs. The first-round winners advance to the best-of-seven finals.

Led by national team coach Lee Yun-kwang and star center Tsun Wen-ting, regular season champion Yulon will try to win its third consecutive title after finishing 24 wins and 6 losses in the regular season.

Its opponent will be Bank of Taiwan, the "cinderella team" which made the post-season for the first time in SBL's three-year history with a 15W-15L record. With Yulon regarded as a hands-on favorite, Bank of Taiwan head coach Wei Chen-ming predicted that his underrated team will at least get one win in the series.

The games will take place at the Taipei Physical Education College Gymnasium. Game days of the first-round series are April 21, 22, 23, 26 and 27.

SBL, which was established in 2003, is the most competitive senior-level basketball league in Taiwan. Currently there are seven teams in the league.

Monday, April 17, 2006

Asia-basket 2005-06 SBL Awards

All-Star First Team:
F Tien Lei (Dacin)
F Lin Chi-jay (TB)
C Tsun Wen-din (Yulon)
G Lo Shin-liang (YMY)
G Chen Chih-chun (Yulon)

All-Star Second Team:
F Lee Chi-yi (VL)
F Yang Che-yi (VL)
C Hsiao Yuan-chan (ETSN)
G Chang Chi-feng (Dacin)
G Chien Ming-fu (BOT)

Play of the Year: Tien Lei (Dacin)
Coach of the Year: Wei Chen-min (BOT)
Defensive Player of the Year: Tsun Wen-din (Yulon)
Most Improved Player: Hsiao Yuan-chan (ETSN)
Rookie of the Year: Su Yi-chieh (Dacin)

2005-06 SBL Stats leaders

Scoring: Tien Lei (Dacin) 27.1ppg

Rebounding: Tien Lei (Dacin) 11.6rpg

Assists: Wu Yong-jen (BOT) 5.0apg

Blocks: Tsun Wen-din (Yulon) 2.34bpg

Steals: Chien Ming-fu (BOT) 2.07spg

Final Standings:
1 Yulon 24-6
2 Taiwan Beer 20-10
3 Dacin 19-11
4 Bank of Taiwan 15-15
5 Videoland 13-17
6 ETSN 11-19
7 YMY 3-27

Scoring
Rank Players Games Total Average
1 Tien Lei(Dacin) 29 786 27.10
2 Lin Chi-jay(TB) 30 741 24.70
3 Lo Shin-liang(YMY) 28 568 20.29
4 Yang Yu-min(ETSN) 29 559 19.28
5 Tsun Wen-din(Yulon) 29 511 17.62
6 Chang Chih-feng(Dacin) 21 340 16.19
7 Yang Che-yi(VL) 27 437 16.19
8 Lee Chi-yi(VL) 29 462 15.93
9 Chou Shih-yuan(Yulon) 27 393 14.56
10 Lin Chun-feng(BOT) 29 391 13.48

Rebounding
Rank Players Games Total Average
1 Tien Lei(Dacin) 29 336 11.59
2 Tsun Wen-din(Yulon) 29 299 10.31
3 Hsiao Yuan-chan(ETSN) 30 262 8.73
4 Lee Chi-yi(VL) 29 252 8.69
5 Wu Chih-yuan(TB) 27 195 7.22
6 Lee Fong-yong(Dacin) 15 98 6.53
7 Lin Chi-jay(TB) 30 187 6.23
8 Wang Chuan-jian(YMY) 28 170 6.07
9 Chen Shi-jay(YMY) 29 173 5.97
10 Wu Jun-hsiung(ETSN) 28 158 5.64

Assists
Rank Players Games Total Average
1 Wu Yong-jen(BOT) 25 125 5.00
2 Chen Huei(VL) 29 116 4.00
3 Chen Shih-nian(TB) 30 116 3.87
4 Chien Ming-fu(BOT) 27 104 3.85
5 Lee Hseuh-lin(Yulon) 30 114 3.80
6 Chen Chih-chun(Yulon) 23 87 3.78
7 Su Yi-chieh(Dacin) 30 110 3.67
8 Hong Chih-shan(YMY) 27 95 3.52
9 Lin Chi-jay(TB) 30 97 3.23
10 Chang Chi-feng(Dacin) 21 66 3.14

Blocks
Rank Players Games Total Average
1 Tsun Wen-din(Yulon) 29 68 2.34
2 Tien Lei(Dacin) 29 51 1.76
3 Lee Fong-yong(Dacin) 15 23 1.53
4 Yua Yin-li(BOT) 29 35 1.21
5 Lee Chi-yi(VL) 29 34 1.17
6 Wang Chuan-jian(YMY) 28 30 1.07
7 Liu Yi-hsiang(YMY) 5 4 0.80
8 Huang Chun-hsiung(VL) 16 12 0.75
9 Ha Hsiao-yuan(TB) 24 18 0.75
10 Wu Yang-huei(TB) 3 2 0.67

Steals
Rank Players Games Total Average
1 Chien Ming-fu(BOT) 27 56 2.07
2 Chou Shih-yuan(Yulon) 27 55 2.04
3 Lee Wei-min(TB) 29 53 1.83
4 Chen Shi-jay(YMY) 29 52 1.79
5 Tien Lei(Dacin) 29 52 1.79
6 Lo Shin-liang(YMY) 28 47 1.68
7 Liin Chi-jay(TB) 30 46 1.53
8 Chang Chi-feng(Dacin) 21 32 1.52
9 Hong Chih-shan(YMY) 27 41 1.52
10 Lee Hsueh-liin(Yulon) 30 45 1.50

SBL 05-06 regular season ends ; Yulon on top again

Led by Tsun Wen-din and Chou Shih-yuan, who scored 18 points apiece, Yulon beat Dacin 87-83 on the final day and finished atop the standings for the third consecutive season.

Yulon finished the regular season 24-6, one win less than last season. It was 19-5 in the 2003-04 season.

Taiwan Beer edged YMY 89-88 to boost its record to 20-10 and won the No.2 seed in the playoffs. But TB nearly lost its leading scorer Lin Chi-jay in the third quarter when Lin twisted his left ankle. Fortunately TB trainer said it took two to three days for Lin to recover. He should be able to play in the playoffs.

Taiwan Beer has gone a long way to where it is today. The team almost folded three years ago. And it was 9-15 and out of the playoffs in SBL's inaugural season. Led by talented scorer Lin Chi-jay, TB was 16-14 last season and squeezed into the playoffs on the final day of the regular season.

Dacin finished 19-11 and dropped to No.3. Still, this is Dacin's best season in team history.

TB 89-88 YMY
TB: Lin Kwan-lun 20p, Ho Sho-jen 16p, Pan Jen-der 14p
YMY: Lo Shin-liang 36p, Chang Yu-lin 26p, Chien Jia-hong 12p+13rb

Yulon 87-83 Dacin
Yulon: Tsun Wen-din 18p+13rb, Chou Shih-yuan 18p, Chen Chih-chun 15p, Chou hong-yu 15p
Dacin: Tien Lei 36p+19rb, Chang Chi-feng 18p, Wang Chih-chun 12p

Final Standings:
1. Yulon 24-6
2. Taiwan Beer 20-10
3. Dacin 19-11
4. Bank of Taiwan 15-15
5. Videoland 13-17
6. ETSN 11-19
7. YMY 3-27

Best-of-Five First Round Playoffs:
(1) Yulon vs. (4) BOT
(2) TB vs. (3) Dacin
Game Days: April 21, 22, 23, 26, 27

Sunday, April 16, 2006

'The Beast' scored 43, TB beat BOT to tie Dacin

"The Beast" Lin Chi-jay scored his season-high 43 points, dropping 9 of 14 3-pointers, to help Taiwan Beer escape with a 119-115 victory over Bank of Taiwan.

TB tied Dacin on the standings at 19-10 with one game left in the season. TB will meet YMY and Dacin meets Yulon tomorrow. No matter who comes out as No.2 seed, Dacin and TB will meet in the best-of-five first round playoffs.

The high-scoring game broke four SBL single-game records: 40 points in a quarter (2nd, Taiwan Beer), 70 points in a half (2nd, Bank of Taiwan), 119 points for a team in a single game(Taiwa Beer) and 234 points for two teams combined in a single game.

TB led 68-45 in halftime but BOT came back with a furious rally, scoring 38 and 32 points respectively in the last two quarters, outscoring TB 70-50 in the second half before coming up short.

With only two games left in the regular season, all eyes were on the upcoming playoffs, where No.1 seed Yulon will meet Bank of Taiwan and Dacin meets Taiwan Beer.

TB 119-115 BOT
TB: Lin Chi-jay 43p(9-14 3-PT), Lee Wei-min 17p, Hsu Hao-cheng 14p
BOT: Chien Ming-fu 23p+9a, Chuan Hsiao-wen 17p+7rb, Yua Ying-li 13p, Chen Hsun-hsiang 13p, Yang Chin-min 13p

ETSN 88-67 VL
ETSN: Yang Yu-min 18p, Chou Jun-san 14p, Wu Jia-long 13p
VL: Hu Yu-wei 13p, Chen Li-wei 12p

Standings:
Yulon 23-6, Dacin 19-10, TB 19-10, BOT 15-15, VL 13-17, ETSN 11-19, YMY 3-26

Saturday, April 15, 2006

YMY snaps 25-game losing streak

YMY didn't want its losing streak to extend to another season and picked tonight to end it. Lo Shin-liang and Chang Yu-lin scored 21 points apiece as YMY lead from start to finish and beat ETSN 91-72, putting its 25-game losing streak to an end.

After a 111-day wait, YMY got its third win of the season in the next-to-last game. Still, the losing streak ranks as the longest losing streak record in SBL history.

Already out of the playoffs, Videoland didn't give up either. The Hunters pulled out a 14-0 run in the 28-18 4th quarter to beat Dacin 88-77.

Yang Che-yi and Lee Chi-yi combined for 52 points for the winner, while Tien Lei had 29 points and 17 rebounds in the losing effort.

YMY 91-72 ETSN
YMY: Lo Shin-liang 21p, Chang Yu-lin 21p, Chien Jia-hong 16p+7rb+4a
ETSN: Hsiao Yuan-chan 18p+19rb, Yang Yu-min 14p

VL 88-77 Dacin
VL: Yang Che-yi 27p, Lee Chi-yi 25p, Hong Chi-chao 15p
Dacin: Tien Lei 29p+17rb, Wang Chih-chun 17p, Lin Yi-huei 13p+8rb

Standings:
Yulon 23-6, Dacin 19-10, TB 18-10, BOT 15-14, VL 13-16, ETSN 10-19, YMY 3-26

Monday, April 10, 2006

BOT grabs final playoff seed

Thanks to a loss by Videoland, Bank of Taiwan accomplished the impossible. BOT grabbed the final playoff seed and made the postseason for the first time since SBL established three years ago.

But BOT wanted to take the matter in their own hands and did not let down. Led by Chien Ming-fu's 32 points, including 10 points in the final 1:33, BOT beat ETSN 100-93 to ensure a .500 finish by securing its 15th win of the season.

In the first game Taiwan Beer edged Videoland 102-99 in overtime to knock VL out of the playoffs and send BOT in. BOT holds a 4-1 tiebreaker advantage in head-to-head record even if it ties VL in the standings in season's end.

TB's Hsu Hao-cheng made 4 three-pointers in the game, including the deciding three with 2.8 seconds left in overtime to put TB on top 102-99. Lin Chi-jay scored a game-high 27 points and dished out 7 assists.

For Videoland, this is a disappointing results in head coach Chou Hai-jun's debut season and also the team's worst finish in three years. Known as the BCC Mars, VL finished 12-12 and 18-12 in the last two years.

Bank of Taiwan is another story. It had finished 5-19 and 9-21 in the previous two years. BOT was 1-4 in December last year but became one of the hottest teams in the second half of the season, winning six of seven in one stretch. Credit head coach Wei Chen-min to hold the players together and made playing ball fun again.

TB 102-99(OT) VL
TB: Lin Chi-jay 27p+7a, hsu Hao-cheng 16p, Lee Wei-min 16p, Ho Sho-jen 12p
VL: Lee Chi-yi 24p+16rb+6a, Yang Che-yi 16p, Hong Chi-chao 13p
BOT 100-93 ETSN
BOT: Chien Ming-fu 32p+5a, Ju Yong-hong 27p, Yang Chin-min 16p, Wu Yong-jen 12p
ETSN: Wu Jia-long 21p, Yang Yu-min 18p, O-Yang Jin-hen 16p, Hsiao Yuan-chan 14p+16rb

Standings:
Yulon 23-6, Dacin 19-9, TB 18-10, BOT 15-14, VL 12-16, ETSN 10-18, YMY 2-26

Sunday, April 09, 2006

Yang's 30 led ETSN beat Dacin

Yang Yu-min scored 30 points as ETSN Antelopes beat Dacin Tigers98-85 Saturday in the fifth and final head-to-head matchup of the season and avoid being swept by the Tigers.

Yulon cruised past YMY 106-83 to win seventh straight although it chose to rest its starters for most of the game. Not surprisingly, YMY suffered its 25th straight loss.

ETSN 98-85 Dacin
ETSN: Yang Yu-min 30, O-Yang Jin-hen 20, Wu Jia-long 17p
Dacin: Tien Lei 28p+12rb+4a+6blk, Cheng Chan-jun 17p, Wang Chih-chun 16p
Yulon 106-83 YMY
Yulon: Lu Cheng-ju 20p+7rb, Chou Hong-yu 14p, Liu Shen-yao 13p
YMY: Lo Shin-liang 22p, Chien Jia-hong 16p, Hsieh Chih-wei 14p

Standings:
Yulon 23-6, Dacin 19-9, TB 17-10, BOT 14-14, VL 12-15, ETSN 10-17, YMY 2-26

Saturday, April 08, 2006

Yulon routs TB, clinches top seed

With a 20-0 opening run, Yulon turned a highly-anticipated game into a rout. Dinos beat Taiwan Beer 85-68 to clinch the top playoff seed Friday.

Yulon's tenacious defense forced TB without a field-goal for seven minutes in the first quarter. TB didn't score until Lee Wei-min made a three-pointer with 2:50 left in the period. After the opening 10 minutes, the score was already 25-6, Yulon. And the rest was history.

In the first game YMY lost to Videoland and pushed its losing streak record to 24 games.

For Videoland, the chance of making the playoffs is still there but it's slim. VL will make the playoffs as the 4th seed if it wins the remaining three games and Bank of Taiwan drops its last two games of the season.

VL 71-65 YMY
VL: Lee Chi-yi 20p+5a, Yang Che-yi 15p+9rb, Lai Kuo-hong 15p+8rb+3blk
YMY: Lo Shin-liang 23p+5rb+6a, Wang Chuan-jian 15p+12rb
Yulon 85-68 TB
Yulon: Tsun Wen-din 14p+10rb+4a+4blk+3s, Wu Chih-wei 12p, Liu Shen-yao 11p+10rb
TB: Lin Chi-jay 13p, Ho Sho-jen 13p

Saturday, April 01, 2006

TPEC wins 11th straight UBA Men's title

Once again, TPEC dominated Taiwanese university league. Led by MVP Chou Shih-yuan, TPEC beat Fujen University 112-92 Friday in the UBA men's title game and won its 11th straight UBA title. The school extended its winning streak to an astonishing 131 games.

Chinese Culture University (CCU) got the sweet revenge in the women's title game, defeating TPEC 73-62 in the championship game. CCU lost to TPEC in last year's final.

Chang Bo-sheng of National Taiwan University of Arts (NTUA) was named Freshman of the Year over teammate Zuo Tsun-kai.

Chou Shih-yuan had 30 points in 35 minutes in the title game, while Tsun Wen-din and Chen Hsin-an scored 17 apiece for TPEC. All three players are from Yulon Dinos.

Yang Chin-min (Bank of Taiwan) had a game-high 32 points for Fujen Univ., which also had 24 points from forward Wang Jian-wei (Taiwan Beer).

On Thursday, NTNU beat NTCPE 95-82 to win the third-place in the men's competition but its women's team failed to pack another victory, losing 77-76 to Fujen Univ. in women's third-place game.

In men's semifinal, TPEC beat NTNU 86-75 and Fujen edged NTCPE by one point.