A timely resurgence by Liu Sheng-yao, who converted all four free throws in the final 16 seconds of the game, held off a tenacious rally by the Yulon Luxgens to give the Taiwan Mobile Leopards a thrilling 79-76 win at the Hsinchu Municipal Gymnasium on Friday evening.
The soft-spoken Leopard forward, who is finally seeing the floor time he deserves after two years of play, was able to rise to the occasion by nailing the clutch free throws against his former team after the Luxgens were forced to foul intentionally with less than a minute remaining.
“I have been playing a lot better as of late and I hope the trend will continue,” Liu said after the game.
PHOTO: LIU HSIN-DE, TAIPEI TIMES
He has averaged nearly 20 points per game over a four-game stretch to help the Leopards — under the direction of coach Cheng Chih-long — pull off upset wins over Pure Youth Constructions and the Luxgens in the same span.
Seven straight points by Leopards newcomer Alexus Foyle in the first quarter sparked a 10-0 run that gave the Leopards a surprising 19-11 lead before the cats upped the cushion to a whopping 13 (46-33) by the half, highlighted by a buzzer-beating three-pointer from mid-court by Ou Yang Jing-hen.
The Luxgens finally got back on track with a solid third quarter, tied the game up in the fourth and led briefly before coming up empty in all four of their final possessions to let the game slip away in the end.
KINMEN LIQUOR 95, BOT 85
Red-hot Kinmen Liquor continued its winning streak on Friday with a convincing win over Bank of Taiwan (BOT), thanks to an outstanding effort by local boy Cheng Ren-wei and last week’s Player of the Week Shawn “the Hawk” Hawkins.
The Kinmen scoring tandem’s combined 63 points accounted for nearly two-thirds of the team’s total offense for the night has been the main reason the distillers are tied for the lead with the Dacin Tigers with a 7-2 record.
Tallon Griekspoor on Friday stunned top seed Alexander Zverev 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/4) in the second round at Indian Wells, avenging a devastating loss to the German at Roland Garros last year. Zverev, the world No. 2 who is heading the field of the prestigious ATP Masters event with No. 1 Jannik Sinner serving a three-month drugs ban, is the first Indian Wells men’s top seed to lose his opening match since Andy Murray in 2017. It was a cherished win for Griekspoor, who had lost five straight matches — including four last year — to the German. That included a five-setter
Donovan Mitchell on Wednesday scored 26 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers punched their ticket to the NBA playoffs with a hard-fought 112-107 victory over the Miami Heat. A seesaw battle in Cleveland saw the Heat threaten to end the Cavs’ 11-game unbeaten streak after opening up a seven-point lead late in the fourth quarter, but the Cavs clawed back the deficit in the closing minutes to seal their 12th straight victory and a place in the post-season. The Cavaliers improved to 52-10, maintaining their stranglehold on the Eastern Conference with 20 games of the regular season remaining. Mitchell was one of six Cleveland
Five-time champion Novak Djokovic on Saturday tumbled out of the Indian Wells ATP Masters, falling in his first match to lucky loser Botic van de Zandschulp as two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz advanced. “No excuses for a poor performance,” 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic said after 37 unforced errors in a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 defeat. “It doesn’t feel great when you play this way on the court,” he said. “But congratulations to my opponent — just a bad day in the office, I guess, for me.” Djokovic is just the latest in Van de Zandschulp’s string of superstar victims. He
Manchester United on Thursday settled for a 1-1 draw with Real Sociedad in the first leg of their Europa League round-of-16 tie. United led on Joshua Zirkzee’s goal in the 58th minute, but the hosts equalized 12 minutes later after Bruno Fernandes’ hand ball and Mikel Oyarzabal sent Andre Onana the wrong way from the penalty spot. The Europa League could be a way for United to finish the season with a trophy after crashing out of the FA Cup on Sunday. A spot in the quarter-finals is to be on the line at Old Trafford in the second leg on Thursday next
RSS