(Tien Lei alone couldn't take Dacin to the Game 1 win, photo courtesy of ESPN Taiwan)
(Taiwan Beer continued its regular season dominance over Dacin in Game 1, photo courtesy of ESPN Taiwan)
The forward tandem of Lin Chih-jay and Ho Sho-jen scored 43 points as Taiwan Beer continued its regular season dominance over Dacin Tigers, winning the 2007 SBL Finals Game 1 83-70 to take a 1-0 lead.
After a rusty first half, TB bounced back with a strong second half and outscored Dacin 48-31 en route to the 13-point victory. The Beermen finally controlled the game after a 12-3 run in the 4th quarter and took a 69-60 lead.
Lin Chih-jay had 21 points, 10 boards and 5 assists while Ho Sho-jen had a team-high 22 points. Chen Shih-nian scored 14 points.
Dacin was led by Tien Lei's 22 points and 13 rebounds. Lin Yi-huei had 13 points while Wang Chih-chun had 12 points and Chang Chi-feng 11 points.
(Yang Che-yi had 21 points in Game 1 win of the third-place series, photo courtesy of ESPN Taiwan)
In Game 1 of the third-place series, Yang Che-yi scored 6 straight points as Videoland held off Yulon's rally and pulled out with a 95-86 win.
Yang led the Hunters with 21 points. Lee Chi-yi had 19 points to go with 6 rebounds and 5 assists. Wu Yong-jen scored 17 points for the winner, which also had 10 points from veteran Lai Kuo-hong. Import Jonathan Sanders had 9 points and 7 rebounds.
Yulon trailed 40-27 at halftime but cut the deficit down to three points, 85-82, in the final period. Chen Chih-chun led the Dinos with 22 points. Lee Hsueh-lin followed with 19 points. Center Tsun Wen-din had 15 points, 7 boards and 6 assists.
Chen Hsin-an, who not long ago was dubbed Taiwan's best player, once again turned in a disappointing performance, scoring 6 points in 31 minutes.
Honestly, I can't think of any sensible reason to play the best-of-five third-place series except trying to fill up the seats and sell more tickets. Even so, it's still a meaningless series just like NCAA's consolation game, which is not being held anymore.