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