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