The top-seeded Dacin Tigers rode the red-hot shooting of Chang Chih-fong as they baffled a compromised Taiwan Beer with an 89-75 win in Game 4 of the Championship Finals at the Taipei County Sports Complex in Sinjhuang on Friday, evening up the best-of-seven series at 2-2.
The veteran guard — voted league MVP the night before — proved his worth by connecting for 13 first-quarter points en route to a game-high 26. The Cats earned a potentially series-turning victory that not only brought them all the way back from a 0-2 deficit, but also provided them with a badly needed boost to morale.
“It was a huge win for us given the fact that we started the series down two-to-none. The award [league MVP] is nothing if we don’t win the title this year,” Chang said after the game.
PHOTO: LIU HSIN-DE, TAIPEI TIMES
Beer’s loss was devastating in more than one way as they lost Lin “the Beast” Chih-jeh less than two minutes into the game to a badly twisted ankle, sidelining him for the rest of the game and possibly the series.
The absence of the Beast could mean the loss of the title for Taiwan Beer as he played an indispensable role in leading them to titles the past two seasons.
The Tigers had a 27-17 lead at the end of the first quarter before an evenly fought second brought the half to an end with the Tigers up 49-41.
Trailing by eight, Taiwan Beer stormed back in the second half behind the strong play of leading scorer Yang Jing-min.
The Brew Crew’s 11-0 run to start the third even gave them a brief lead in the game.
But the Tigers took advantage of a timid Taiwan Beer defense in the final quarter — with Yang and center Wu Dai-hao both in foul trouble — by erupting for 26.
All-star center Byron Allen, who had averaged 19 points and 17 rebounds over the first three games of the series, did not have a big game as far as his point total was concerned, but the anchor of the Dacin frontcourt trio still racked up 14 points and 13 boards to be the only player to turn in a double-double performance in all four games.
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