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