Taiwan Beer remained unbeaten at 3-0 with a 94-85 win over Kinmen Liquor on the third day of play at the Hualien Probation Cup Basketball Tournament on Friday.
Shang Wei-fan championed a second-half rally by Taiwan Beer, who wasted a double-digit lead in the third quarter and needed another rally to stay on the winning track. Veteran center Shang, who was released by Kinmen Liquor in the offseason, racking up 14 points, showing his former club they might have made a mistake in letting him go.
With the departure of top scorer Lin “The Beast” Chih-jeh to China and big man Wu Dai-hao and sharpshooter Yang Yu-ming nursing injuries, Taiwan Beer depended on Shang and center Hao Hsiao-yuan to lead an attack that focused more inside than on the rapid-firing perimeter game for which they’re known.
PHOTO: LIN CHENG-KUN, TAIPEI TIMES
US STARS 75, SHANXI ZHONGYU 71
The US Stars upset CBA’s Shanxi Zhongyu to earn the respect of the Chinese in their third game of the tournament.
Shanxi found themselves without the service of talented center Donta Smith when the hired gun from the US fouled out in the fourth quarter.
The absence of Smith gave the Stars a window of opportunity and they overcame a 13-point deficit in the second half to pull off the upset.
LUXGENS 94, TEAM MALAYSIA 64
The Yulon Luxgens won their second game of the tournament with a convincing victory over an outclassed Malaysian team.
Team Malaysia proved no match for the Luxgens, who played reserve players mostly but still managed to win by a wide margin.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
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