Saturday, May 12, 2007

Dacin, TB embrace day of underdogs


(Dacin upset defending champ Yulon in Game 1, photo courtesy of ESPN Taiwan)

The opening day of the 2006-07 SBL postseason proved to be a day for the underdogs, as fourth-seeded Dacin Tigers upset top seed Yulon 89-88 in overtime and third-seeded Taiwan Beer beat No. 2 seed Videoland 86-81. Dacin and TB both took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series.

Taiwan Beer 86-81 Videoland (TB 1-0)

(TB forward Ho Sho-jen, photo courtesy of ESPN Taiwan)

TB contained VL forward Jonathan Sanders with a tenacious defense and used a 13-3 run early in the 4th quarter to pull out the win. Sanders, who averaged 23.5 points and 16.3 rebounds in the regular season, was limited to 14 and 11 in the game by the main defender Ho Sho-jen.

VL was 4-1 in the regular season vs. Taiwan Beer.

TB: Lin Chih-jay 21p+10rb+5a, Ho Sho-jen 16p+10rb, Lo Shin-liang 13p, Shan Wei-fan 12p
VL: Yang Che-yi 24p, Lee Chi-yi 19p+10rb, Jonathan Sanders 14p+11rb

Dacin 89-88(OT) Yulon (Dacin 1-0)

(Dacin forward Chen Tse-wei, photo courtesy of ESPN Taiwan)

Yulon pulled ahead 82-80 by Chou Shih-yuan's layup with 2.8 seconds left in regulation before Chang Chi-feng tied the score with two free-throws and brought the game into overtime.

With Tsun Wen-din, Chen Hsin-an and Chen Chih-chun fouled out of the game in the extra session, Chang Chi-feng made two free-throws with 45.3 seconds remaining, when Dacin led 89-85. Wei Yong-tai's three pulled Yulon within one but Yulon failed to get the shot off in its last possession.

Dacin: Chen Tse-wei 18p(4 3PT), Chang Chi-feng 17p, Tien Lei 16p(6-18 FG)+19rb, Wang Chih-chun 11p, Yao Jun-jay 10p
Yulon: Tsun Wen-din 15p+10rb, Chen Hsin-an 14p+12rb, Chen Chih-chun 19p(4 3PT), Lu Cheng-ju 17p(5 3PT)