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