Other than a mild upset by the fifth-seed Hsin Wu College over the fourth-seed National Taiwan University of Arts in a 93-82 decision on Sunday, the higher seeds won their respective games in the final round of the annual University Basketball Association (UBA) championship at the National Taiwan Normal University in Taipei.
Top-ranked National Taiwan Normal made it look easy against National Kaohsiung Normal University (eighth seed) in the earlier game on Sunday with a 101-46 blowout victory, while Chinese Culture University (second seed) and Fu Jen Catholic University (third seed) both took care of business in their respective matches against the Taipei Physical Education College (seventh seed) and the National Taiwan University of Sports at Taoyuan (sixth seed) by margins of 81-70 and 87-81 to advance into the semis scheduled for last night.
Winners from the semi-finals will meet in tonight’s final.
HSIN WU COLLEGE 93, NATIONAL TAIWAN UNIVERSITY OF ARTS 82
Hsin Wu avenged an earlier loss to National Taiwan University of Arts in second-round action that cost it the fourth-seed berth by humbling the artists in a 93-82 decision on Sunday to advance to the semis for the second straight year.
Freshman center Wang Hao-chi dominated inside the paint throughout the entire game by muscling his way to 26 points and 15 rebounds on top of a pair of blocked shots, leading his school to an unprecedented second straight appearance in the semi-finals.
NATIONAL TAIWAN NORMAL 101, NATIONAL KAOHSIUNG NORMAL 46
Behind a fivesome of SBL starters, National Taiwan Normal jumped to a lopsided 17-point lead in the opening quarter on Sunday and upped it to 36 (63-27) by the half before closing out with a 55-point lead.
Unbeaten in all 13 of their games in the tournament thus far, National Taiwan Normal is two wins away from claiming the first ever national title in school history.
CHINESE CULTURE 81,
TAIPEI PHYSICAL EDUCATION 70
Chinese Culture needed a 14-3 run late in the game — highlighted by the a pair of clutch shots by Chen Nian-en and Soong Yu-hsuen — to unlock a tie at 67 and defeat Taipei Physical Education on Monday night. The loss ended a 21-year long streak of “Final Four” appearances for Taipei Physical Education.
FU JEN CATHOLIC 87,
NATIONAL TAIWAN UNIVERSITY OF SPORTS AT TAOYUAN 81
Overcoming a 24-point halftime deficit, Fu Jen Catholic outscored National Taiwan University of Sports at Taoyuan by a jaw-dropping 63-33 margin in the second half to run away with an incredible 87-81 win on Monday afternoon.
Wu Chih-wei was by far the biggest contributor to Fu Jen’s comeback, hitting six three-pointers in the second half on a team-high 22-point night to help avoid what could have been a huge upset loss for the defending champs.
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