Overcoming deficits as large as 15 points in the fourth quarter, the Yulon Dinos miraculously stunned Taiwan Beer by a 79-75 margin at the Kaohsiung County Sports complex on Sunday evening to close out the weekend of play with a perfect 3-0 record in the Super Basketball League.
The Dinos needed a three-point play the old fashion way on top of a technical foul on Taiwan Beer skipper Yen Jia-hua to pull off what ended up being a seven-point play for a win that kept their perfect 12-0 record intact.
Down by three with under 40 seconds remaining in the game, Dinos forward Chen "Airman" Hsin-an drove hard to the hoop and managed to score on a reserve lay-up while being fouled by a Taiwan Beer defender for a chance to complete a three-point play.
PHOTO: HUANG CHIH-YUAN, TAIPEI TIMES
The call by the referee immediately sent Taiwan Beer head coach Yen Jia-hua to a rage as he pleaded that the foul had taken place long before Chen had initiated his drive to the hoop, therefore the basket should not have counted. Yen's challenge was denied, which further irritated him as he charged the floor looking for the referee to argue his case further.
In doing so, Yen was hit with a technical foul, which gave the Dinos a pair of free throws and the ensuing possession of the ball.
That was all it took to turn the game around for Yulon as Chen calmly sank the free throw to complete a game-tying three-point play before his teammates hit four of the next six free throw attempts to seal the game.
"It's a disgrace to the game that the game was decided by a referee, I've got nothing else to say," Yen said after the game. He was so emotional following the game he actually charged the officiating crew off the court and tried to kick one of the officials before being dragged off.
As for the game, Taiwan Beer lost yet another tough match to the Dinos that it should have won following a disheartening defeat at the hands of the Dinos in their first meeting of the season, where Taiwan Beer also blew a late-game lead to lose by two in overtime.
Numen 91, Pure Youth 86
Taiwan Beer was not the lone team that blew a late-game lead on Sunday as Pure Youth Constructions also squandered away a 66-51 lead early in the fourth to lose to the dmedia Numen in overtime by a 91-86 decision.
All-purpose forward Jonathan Sanders continued his dominance over a young Pure Youth squad by accounting for eleven of the Numen's 33 fourth-quarter points on a 31-point, 14-rebound night to spark the incredible dmedia comeback.
Streaky shooter Ouyang Jing-hen also chipped in 21 on the night to keep his red-hot shooting in tune as the dmedia guard upped his team-best scoring average to 18.7 points per game.
Tigers 70, Leopards 67
The Dacin Tigers snapped a three-game losing streak with a solid 70-67 win over the Taiwan Mobile Leopards on Sunday, earning some respect back after playing a tough three-game stretch with most of the regular starters on the bench.
Following Saturday night's lopsided 64-92 loss to Taiwan Beer with only one regular starter in uniform, the Tigers were able to have center Lee Fong-yong and guard Chang Chih-fong back in the lineup.
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