Chou Shih-yuan’s put-back with time expiring broke an 85-all tie to help the Yulon Luxgens rally from 13 down in the fourth to escape with an 87-85 win over Kinmen Liquor at the Taipei Municipal Gymnasium on Sunday night.
The rebound off the offensive glass came as a surprise for Chou because all the Kinmen Liquor players had mistaken the shot-clock buzzer for the game buzzer, leaving the Yulon guard an uncontested basket for the dramatic win.
“We got really lucky tonight,” a much-relieved Yulon skipper Chang Hsueh-lei said after the game.
PHOTO: CHANG CHIA-MING, TAIPEI TIMES
After the game some Kinmen Liquor players were still in disbelief.
“The last shot wasn’t the killer; we should’ve never allowed them [Luxgens] back in the game at the first place,” coach Luo Tien-jin said.
What was supposed to be an easy win over Kinmen Liquor turned into a dogfight as the Luxgens found themselves trailing from the start on an incredible 11-point quarter by Kinmen Liquor’s Cheng Ren-wei that helped his team to a 23-14 lead.
Kinmen Liquor ended the first half with a formidable 45-33 lead only to see the Luxgens fight back with a strong third quarter, narrowing the lead to three heading into the fourth.
A 10-2 run by Kinmen Liquor in the early minutes of the fourth brought its lead up to 13 before the Luxgens rallied again for the win.
TAIWAN BEER 92, LEOPARDS 85
Taiwan Beer continued its streak by rolling past the Taiwan Mobile Leopards in a 92-85 decision on Sunday to cap a 2-0 weekend.
It was the third straight win and eighth in nine games for the defending champs as they bombarded the Leopards’ zone defense with 11 threes on 25 attempts.
Leading the way for the potent Taiwan Beer attack was forward Yang Jing-min, whose game-high 28 points upped his league-leading scoring average to 21.6 points per game, more than two points over the next-best player.
Also starring for the Beer crew was center Wu Dai-hao, who muscled his way inside the paint for 16 points and nine rebounds.
The loss by the free-falling Leopards marked their fifth straight and eighth in nine games as their midseason slump continues.
PURE YOUTH 94, BANK OF TAIWAN 77
Scoring 94 points for the second straight game, Pure Youth Construction finished the weekend strongly with a rout of Bank of Taiwan on Sunday afternoon.
The win, coupled with the tough loss by Kinmen Liquor, propelled the builders past Kinmen Liquor from fifth to fourth place in the standings, further fueling the intense race between the two clubs for the fourth and final playoff spot.
Pure Youth opened the game with a 25-14 run in the first quarter behind a stellar eight-point effort by center Jien Jia-hong, never looking back as they held leads as large as 20 en route to the easy win.
The Bankers’ loss sent them back to reality after their upset win over the Leopards on Friday in just their second “W” of the season.
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Team Taiwan avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time by defeating Spain 6-3 in a do-or-die game in Taipei last night. After narrowly escaping a mercy-rule loss to Spain in the WBC Qualifiers opener on Friday last week, the home team — winner of last year's WBSC Premier12 title three months ago — got their revenge against the 2023 European champions at Taipei Dome. "It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12," Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) said after the game, recalling the ups and downs the team has experienced over the past few days. Unlike in
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