SINA will meet Yulon in SBL Finals

SINA veterans rose to the occasion as they played flawless 40 minutes in the deciding Game Three of the first round playoffs, beating Dacin 81-69 to rally from a 0-1 deficit and won the series. As expected, SINA will meet No.1 Yulon in the Finals.

Chou Jun-san and Lo Shin-laing, both over 32 years-old, proved once again they are the best backcourt combination. Chou made 8-of-13 from the field, including 3-for-3 from 3-point line, and scored 19. Lo had one of his best performances of the season with 18 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists and 6 steals.

Tien Lei had 30 points and 11 rebounds and tried to carry Dacin on his own. But Dacin failed to get over the hump in the second half.

SINA will meet Yulon in Game 1 of the SBL Finals Thursday.

Summary
SINA 81-69 Dacin (Half 39-37)
SINA – Chou Jun-san 19p+5rb+4a, Lo Shin-liang 18p+9rb+7a+6s, Huang Chun-hsiung 15p+5rb, Hsu Yong-yi 11p, Kao Li-min 10p
Dacin – Tien Lei 30p+11rb, Hsu Chi-chao 11p, Cheng Chan-jun 10p

Yulon beat Mars 2-1, advanced to Finals

Yulon proved once again defense wins games. Yulon forced Mars to four consecutive turnovers in the last two minutes in the deciding 72-61 victory and finally won the series 2-1 over the short-handed opponent.

Mars center Lai Kuo-hong committed three of four turnovers in the last two minutes under tight defense by Yulon’s Wu Chih-wei, whose one-handed dunk earlier inspired Yulon to make the final push. Yulon was able to pull away with an 8-0 run and iced the victory with a 10-point lead.

Chen Hsin-an had 20 points, with half his points coming from free-throw line. Tsun Wen-din also dominated underneath, collecting 19 points and 13 rebounds. But Wu Chih-wei, with his inspiring dunk and brilliant defense, was obviously the unsung hero tonight.

Yulon advanced to the SBL Finals, where they will meet the winner of SINA-Dacin series. The best-of-five SBL Finals will start on April 15th.

Summary
Yulon 72-61 Mars (Half 33-25)
Yulon – Chen Hsin-an 20p+7rb, Tsun Wen-din 19p+13rb+3blk, Chou Shih-yuan 11p, Wu Chih-wei 10p+9rb
Mars – Yang Che-yi 19p+6rb, Lin Shin-hwa 13p+7rb, Lai Kuo-hong 10p+8rb

SINA tied series at 1-1

It’s probably ugly, but SINA can take it. SINA beat Dacin 62-54 in an ugly game in which both teams couldn’t find the basket. SINA tied the first round series at 1-1.

SINA shot only 24-for-67 (35.8%) from the field, including 1-for-19 from the 3-point territory. But Dacin was even worse. With only 19 field goals made (19-for-62, 30.6%), they couldn’t go anywhere and trailed from the beginning.

Both teams shot poor in the perimeter tonight. Naturally, SINA went with their strength – the inside. SINA frontline dominated the game, as Liu Yi-hsiang and Huang Chun-hsiung combined for 33 points and 21 rebounds.

Tien Lei had a double-double (15 points, 15 rebounds) as usual but was plagued by two early fouls in the first quarter. And he had one of the worst shooting night of the season, making only 6 of 21 shots.

Summary
SINA 62-54 Dacin (Half 32-25)
SINA – Liu Yi-hsiang 19p+7rb, Huang Chun-hsiung 14p+14rb, Lo Shin-liang 11p+6rb
Dacin – Tien Lei 15p+15rb+3s+3blk, Lee Fong-yong 12p+8rb

Mars routed Yulon, forced 1-1 tie

Facing elimination and playing without injured starting PG Yen Shin-shu for the second consecutive game, Mars refused to say goodbye to their season. Led by Lee Chi-yi’s 20 points and 11 rebounds, Mars routed Yulon 89-69 tonight to force a 1-1 tie in the first round playoff series.

Mars had five players scoring in double figures in the victory, the first in five meetings against Yulon this season. Everything just clicked for Mars in the game, as they rallied from 41-42 halftime deficit to take a lead after a 17-4 run early in the second half.

Yulon was totally out of sync on both ends of the court. Maybe they were cursed tonight because, unbelievably, the best team in the regular season made only 10-of-28 free-throws.

Chen Hsin-an struggled for the second straight game, shooting 4-for-15 from the floor and 0-of-4 at the charity stripe. He had 19 points in Game 1 but also shot poorly, making 7-for-21.

Summary
Mars 89-69 Yulon (Half 41-42)
Mars – Lee Chi-yi 20p+11rb+3blk, Lin Jia-huang 19p+3a, Lin Shin-hwa 15p+11rb, Lai Kuo-hong 11p, Chen Huei 10p
Yulon – Chou Shih-yuan 19p, Chen Chih-chun 13p, Wei Yong-tai 10p+5rb, Chen Hsin-an 9p(4-15 FG)+7rb, Tsun Wen-din 5p+9rb

Lee Fong-yong leads Dacin past SINA

Lee Fong-yong had a team-high 25 points on 5-for-7 3-point shooting as Dacin beat SINA 87-84 and took the 1-0 lead in the SBL first round playoffs. Brilliant as usual, Tien Lei had 19 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks in the victory.

Lee Fong-yong finally proved he could be a big-game player. And with the inspiration from his elder brother, who was announced brain dead because of an auto accident, no one can stop him tonight. Lee was 10-for-14 from the field.

Tien Lei was heavily covered by SINA and took a backseat offensively to Lee, but he still controlled the paint.

Lo Shin-liang and Huang Chun-hsiung also broke out of the slump and combined for 50 points. SINA made the final push in the final minute, but Lo Shin-liang missed two potential game-tying 3-pointers in the last three seconds.

Summary
Dacin 87-84 SINA (42-39)
Dacin – Lee Fong-yong 25p, Tien Lei 19p+11rb+3a+2s+3blk, Chang Chi-feng 14p, Huang Chih-chun 12p+6rb+5a+3s
SINA – Lo Shin-liang 30p+6rb, Huang Chun-hsiung 20p+13rb+2blkLiu Yi-hsiang 16p, Chou Jun-san 12p+6rb+5a

Yulon edged Mars in playoff opening game

No.1 seed Yulon (19-5) continued its dominance over No.4 seed Mars (12-12) with a 72-66 victory over Mars to open the first round SBL playoffs with a 1-0 lead. Chen Hsin-an had a subpar shooting night but still had a game-high 19 points in the low-scoring game. Yulon swept regular season series against Mars 4-0.

No.2 SINA (14-10) will open its playoff series with No.3 Dacin (13-11) tomorrow.

Summary
Yulon 72-66 Mars (Half 35-29)
Yulon – Chen Hsin-an 19p(7-21 FG)+4a, Wei Yong-tai 14p+11rb, Chou Shih-yuan 11p, Chiu Chi-yi 10p+6rb
Mars – Lee Chi-yi 13p+10rb+3s, Lin Jia-huang 13p, Lai Kuo-hong 13p, Chen Huei 10p+3s, Yang Che-yi 10p+6rb, Yen Shin-shu DNP

03-04 SBL regular season stats ranking

Scoring
Lin Chih-jay(TB) 24.5
Tien Lei(Dacin) 22.0
Yang Yu-min(Jutai) 20.0
Chen Hsin-an(Yulon) 16.9
Lo Shin-liang(SINA) 15.3

Rebounding
Tien Lei(Dacin) 11.6
Wu Dai-hao(Jutai) 8.8
Lee Chi-yi(Mars) 8.4
Tsun Wen-din(Yulon) 7.9
Huang Chun-hsiung(SINA) 7.9

Assists
Chen Shih-nian(TB) 5.5
Chou Jun-san(SINA) 5.3
Yen Shin-shu(Mars) 4.6
Chen Huei(Mars) 3.6
Huang Chih-chun(Dacin) 3.5

Blocks
Tsun Wen-din(Yulon) 2.5
Tien Lei(Dacin) 2.4
Wu Dai-hao(Jutai) 2.1
Lee Chi-yi(Mars) 1.6
Chou Ben-tang(BOT) 1.3

Steals
Tien Lei(Dacin) 2.58
Yen Shin-shu(Mars) 2.56
Chen Shih-nian(TB) 2.04
Hsu Tse-shin(Jutai) 2.00
Chen Huei(Mars) 1.88

SBL concludes regular season

The last day of the SBL regular season still give fans a lot surprises. Mars beat SINA 90-79 to grab the last playoff seed. Last-place Bank of Taiwan upset Taiwan Beer 91-73 in its last game.

Regular season standing:
1. Yulon 19-5; 2. SINA 14-10; 3. Dacin 13-11; 4. Mars 12-12; 5. Jutai 12-12; 6. Taiwan Beer 9-15; 7. Bank of Taiwan 5-19

The best-of-three first round playoffs will start on April 8th with No.1 Yulon takes on No.4 Mars. No.2 SINA meets No.3 Dacin on April 9th.

Summary
Mars 90-79 SINA (Half 59-40)
Mars - Lin Jia-huang 19p, Lee Chi-yi 18p+9rb, Lai Kuo-hong 18p+6rb, Yang Che-yi 12p+5rb+7a, Lin Shin-hwa 10p, Yen Shin-shu DNP
SINA - Chou Jun-san 20p+7a, Hsu Yong-yi 19p, Lo Shin-liang 14p

Bank of Taiwan 91-73 Taiwan Beer (Half 42-46)
BOT - Hsu Hao-cheng 27p+15rb+4a, Chuang Xiao-wen 15p, Chien Ming-fu 12p+7rb+4a, Lin Chun-feng 12p, Ju Yong-hong 10p+8rb+4a, Chou Ben-tang 8p+7rb+8blk
TB - Lin Chih-jay 32p+8rb, Chen Shih-nian 13p+6a, Pan Jen-der 9p, Lee Wei-min 7p+8rb+3s

SBL Playoffs schedule

First Round (Best-of-Three)
(1) Yulon vs. (4) Mars
Game 1: April 8th
Game 2: April 10th
Game 3: April 12th

(2) SINA vs. (3) Dacin
Game 1: April 9th
Game 2: April 11th
Game 3: April 13th

Finals (Best-of-Five)
Game 1: April 15th
Game 2: April 17th
Game 3: April 18th
Game 4: April 23rd
Game 5: April 25th

Jutai keeps postseason hope alive

Yang Yu-min tallied his season-high 33 points as Jutai routed Taiwan Beer 97-77 tonight to keep their postseason hope alive. Dacin clinched the No.3 seed after beating Yulon 85-77.

Jutai finished the season 12-12 but has to rely on SINA’s victory over Mars tomorrow to advance to the playoffs as the No.4 seed. Mars will advance to the playoffs if they beat SINA.

More than likely, Jutai will be out of the playoffs.

The first round playoffs matchups will be No.1 Yulon vs. No.4 Mars (or Jutai) and No.2 SINA vs. No.3 Dacin, both in best-of-three format. Playoffs will start on April 8.

Summary
4/3
Jutai 97-77 Taiwan Beer (Half 51-35)
Jutai - Yang Yu-min 33p+5a, Wu Dai-hao 16p+7rb+4a+3blk, Hsu Tse-shin 14p, O-Yang Jin-hen 12p, Shan Wei-fan 10p+15rb
TB - Lin Chih-jay 27p+6p+3a, Chen Jian-chou 12p+8rb, Liao Wei-chen 10p, Chen Shih-nian 8p+7rb+8a+3s

Dacin 85-77 Yulon (Half 44-32)
Dacin - Tien Lei 25p+13rb+2s+2blk, Chang Chi-feng 16p, Lee Fong-yong 15p+8rb, Hsu Chi-chao 15p+6rb
Yulon - Chou Hong-yu 16p+6rb, Chou Shih-yuan 14p, Lee Chih-ming 11p+8a, Chen Hsin-an 8p

4/2
SINA 82-75 Bank of Taiwan (Half 47-33)
SINA - Hsu Yong-yi 19p, Lin Yu-shu 13p, Chen Shi-jay 10p, Kao Li-min 8p+8rb
BOT - Hsu Hao-cheng 19p+6a, Ju Yong-hong 19p+14rb, Chuang Xiao-wen 13p, Liu Che-lang 11p+7rb, Lin Chun-feng 10p