Sunday, February 03, 2008

SBL to resume after two-week lunar new year break


Yulon forward Lu Cheng-ju made eight threes in the game.


Chien Jia-hong(right) wins his first BOW award. Zuo Tsun-kai is likely out of the season.
(Source: ESPN Taiwan)

A two-week break is probably too much for any basketball league, but that has become a norm for Taiwanese basketball every February. After the three games Sunday, the SBL will breifly suspend its regular season before resuming on Feb. 15.

Led by Jon Sanders' 20-20(23 points and 20 boards), dmedia beat Dacin to solidify its third place ranking with 13 wins and 7 losses, behind Yulon and Taiwan Beer. Meanwhile, Dacin has lost three straight and dropped to 9-11, a half game behind Pure Youth (10-11).

PY's five-game winning streak finally came to an end Sunday after an 82-71 loss to Taiwan Beer. Playing its third game in as many nights, PY's energy was nowhere to be found, trailing by 17 at the half and could never threaten the defending champ.

PY also likely lost Zuo Tsun-kai for the season. Zuo, the No.3 scorer on the team, broke his right wrist Friday and was scheduled for a surgery soon.

Yulon forward Lu Cheng-ju, who had 28 points, sank eight three-pointers and Chen Hsin-an added 26 points and 11 rebounds as Yulon beat Taiwan Mobile 89-80 and handed TM its seventh consecutive loss.

Yulon borke the ame open with an unanswered 17-0 run in the third quarter and led by as many as 25 in the final period. TM put up its last fight, cutting the deficit to three at one point before Chen had six points and a crucial block in the final minute to secure the victory.

Yulon 89-80 TM
Yulon: Chen Hsin-an 26p+11rb, Lu Cheng-ju 28p, Chen Chih-chung 11p
TM: Hsu Wei-sheng 24p+8rb, Wu Yong-jen 15p, Liu Shen-yao 12p, Chen Huei 11p

dmedia 79-75 Dacin
dmedia: J. Sanders 23p+20rb, Lin Kwan-lun 15p, Hsiao Yuan-chan 10p
Dacin: Lin Yi-huei 24p, Chang Chi-feng 11p

TB 82-71 PY