Slumping Taiwan Beer took advantage of a 23-5 run in the third quarter to open a double-digit lead and went on to defeat the Taiwan Mobile Leopards 86-69 at the Sinjhuang Sports Complex in New Taipei City yesterday afternoon to nip a six-game losing skid.
Amis warriors Yang Jing-min and Ho Sho-cheng scored 20 points apiece, while newcomer Kibwe Trim added seven more and a dozen rebounds to help the team bounce back from their worst losing streak in team history.
“[Trim] didn’t have the big game we were hoping for, but he was effective enough to get the job done,” Taiwan Beer head coach Yen Jia-hua said after the game, referring to Trim’s three quick fouls in the opening quarter to keep the hired gun from Trinidad and Tobago from a more explosive showing.
Photo: Wang Yi-song, Taipei Times
However, it was enough to carry the defending champs over the hump for that elusive win to improve their season mark to 4-7.
After a hard-fought first quarter that saw the Leopards take a surprising 15-13 lead, the pendulum quickly swung the Brew Crew’s way as they doubled up on Taiwan Mobile in a 24-12 scoring differential in the second quarter to open a double-digit lead en route to a blowout victory.
“[Taiwan Beer] really outplayed us in every aspect of the game; it didn’t matter who was on the floor or what we tried to do,” Leopards skipper Chia Fan said after the game.
Kinmen Liquor 58,
Bank of Taiwan 57
Bank of Taiwan blew a four-point lead in the final minute to drop a 58-57 decision to Kinmen Liquor in the second game in Sinjhuang yesterday afternoon.
Chen Hsuen-hsiang’s three-pointer with 1:13 remaining in the game put the Bankers ahead 55-51 against the Distillers in a game they thought they had won.
However, it was the Distillers who had the last laugh as Shang Wei-fan took advantage of a traveling violation by the Bankers’ John Vaudreuil with 43.4 seconds remaining by putting in the game-tying basket at the 34.7 second mark to set up Chou Tzu-hua’s go-ahead three-pointer with 13.9 seconds left in the game.
The Bankers had at least two more clear looks at the basket the rest of the way, but failed to connect on either, settling with a meaningless put-back basket with time expiring to lose this game by one.
Tigers 79, Luxgens 78
The Dacin Tigers bounced back from a tough Friday loss to Bank of Taiwan with a narrow 79-78 win over the Yulon Luxgens in yesterday’s final game in Sinjhuang.
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