The Yulon Dinos lived another day by downing Taiwan Beer in an 87-85 thriller in Game Five of the Championship Series at the Taipei County Sports Complex Saturday night, still trailing the favored beer crew 2-3 in the best-of-seven series.
Chen “Airman” Hsin-an regained his regular-season scoring champ’s form with 26 first-half points on a 39-point night to help his team prevail in the do-or-die battle against a Taiwan Beer squad that was looking to clinch the win that would have given them back-to-back titles.
Also starring for the Dinos was offseason acquisition Yang Tseh-yi whose 18-point effort, highlighted by a seven-point scoring spree over an 18-second span late in the game, sealed the win that would force at least one more game on Sunday.
“This is the kind of series that shows what we are really made out of,” the Airman said after the game.
His team has adopted a “Never Quit” slogan in an attempt to will its way back from a 1-3 deficit.
And it the Dinos could maintain the level of intensity that they had, they will not only take the series into a decisive Game Seven, but also likely to win it all as the momentum will undoubtedly be on their side.
The showdown that drew a near-capacity crowd of 7,000 saw the Dinos came out firing with the Airman taking charge early by hitting two three-pointers and slamming one down on a strong drive to the hoop to account for 15 of their 19 first-quarter points.
With the Airman on the bench for a breather, Taiwan Beer quickly took advantage of his absence with its top scorer Lin “the Beast” Chih-jeh showcasing his scoring ability with seven straight points to help his team claim a 34-29 lead.
That prompted Dinos coach Lee Yun-kuan to send his ace back into the game which propelled a 15-8 run on the part of the Dinos to give them a slim 44-42 lead at the half.
Unlike in two of their three previous losses where the Dinos managed to score only seven points in the third quarter, they actually put up 18 compared to Taiwan Beer’s 14 to add to their lead by four after three quarters of play.
But that did not matter much to the streaky beer crew as they rallied from as many as eleven down to tie the game at 72-all before Yang’s late-game heroics timely pushed the Dinos lead back to eight at 81-73.
Fortunately for the Dinos they would never trail in the second half despite an all-out rally by Taiwan Beer that ultimately fell to within a deuce of the Dinos and actually had a chance to tie the game in the final second if the clock had not expired just a tad before the Beast’s final shot.
Four different players scored in double-digits for Taiwan Beer compared to the Dinos’ three, with the Beast leading the way with his team-best 24 points and ten rebounds.
But that would not be enough to translate into a title-clinching win as they look to wrap up the series with a win in Game Six on Sunday at the Taipei County Sports Complex.
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