TPBL Game of the Weekend: Taipei Witnesses A Tense Ending

The best game of the first weekend of professional basketball in Taiwan saw tensions rise between two teams seeking to escape the same situation.

Both Taipei Mars and the visiting Taoyuan Leopards have yet to get a win on the season so far, already adding drama to their match-up in the capital, as one team would definitely be leaving the game with their still-young season already improved.

Taoyuan’s three-point shooting gave them an early lead, which reached eight points before Tsung-Han Huang and Devin Oliver combined to close the gap, then put Taipei in front by one. Jin-Wei Gao tied the scores and two points separated the teams until midway through the second quarter, where Oliver led Mars on a 9-0 run.

Sheng-Ju Ting and Malcolm Miller's play in the paint kept Taipei in front by double digits at the start of the second half. Sin-Kuan Lin then cut the Leopards' deficit down to four, leading Mars to respond by finishing the third quarter with two separate runs of five and six points, giving them a lead of thirteen points.

Devin Williams led Taoyuan in cutting down the deficit early in the fourth, though the visiting team still could not contain Oliver and Igor Zaytsev in the low post. The hosts' big men kept Mars in front by eight going into the final stretch, where the Leopards had a run of seven points without reply, levelling the scores.

Ting tried to tip the balance back to Taipei, which was followed by a layup from Lasan Kromah and a dunk from Devin Williams, putting Taoyuan up by four. On the other end Miller hit a three for Taipei, leaving one point between the teams with seconds to go.

Kromah had the play which decided the outcome of this unpredictable game; in the final seconds he drew a foul and completed a three-point play, which put the Leopards ahead 82-78 with no time for Mars to form a response on the other end.

Despite the loss, Devin Oliver impressed for Mars with 22 points and 12 rebounds, with Sheng-Ju Ting contributing 11 points along with eight rounds and assists for Taipei. Jin-Wei Gao and Sin-Kuan Lin both finished with 19 points in the win for the Leopards, the former also dishing eight assists. Taoyuan's Devin Williams also finished with a double-double, 17 points and 13 rebounds,

For more on this and all TPBL games this weekend, follow this link to the official league website.