Taiwan’s top hoop stars last night were the focus of basketball fans around the world as Taiwan Beer rebounded from a seven-point halftime deficit to beat the Yulon Luxgen Dinos 94-74, evening up their Super Basketball League (SBL) Finals series 2-2 at the Hao Yu Sports Center in New Taipei City.
The International Basketball Federation has made the SBL Finals available for an international audience starved of live-court action due to lockdowns and shuttered seasons amid the COVID-19 pandemic by livestreaming all of the games on its YouTube and Facebook channels.
The Yulon Dinos took Pauian Archiland in the first-round playoffs with a three-game sweep to advance to the finals, where they faced Taiwan Beer, who finished the regular season in first place thanks to their 25-7 record.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
Taiwan Beer forward Kentrell Barkley of the US led the team with 23 points and 13 rebounds for a double-double, while his partner up front, Huang Tsung-han, had 17 points and three rebounds.
Other players had double-digit totals — including Huang Cheng with 16 and Chiang Yu-an with 12 — while center Ihor Zaytsev of Ukraine put up 14 points and nine rebounds.
The Yulon Dinos roared to a 47-40 halftime lead, but Taiwan Beer hit their stride in the second half, outscoring their opponents 54 to 27 to close with a runaway 20-point triumph.
Taiwan Beer head coach Chou Chun-san — a regular on Taiwan’s national squad and part of the Hung Kuo Elephants three-title dynasty in the 1990s — said that it was great to even up the series, which gave his players a confidence boost.
“We tried different combinations at the start and did not get into our rhythm in the first quarter, but we managed to keep the game close throughout the second quarter,” Chou said after the game, which was played behind closed doors as a disease prevention measure.
“After halftime, we beefed up our defense. Our players took advantage of turnovers and steals, scoring on fast breaks,” he added.
Chou, looking ahead to tomorrow’s game, said he aims to prevail over the Yulon Dinos again and take the lead in the series.
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