The Formosa Taishin Dreamers stayed on top of the P. LEAGUE+’s standings this weekend by relying on their firepower from behind the three-point line to overpower their closest rival in the six-team league.
Playing at home in central Taiwan on Friday, the Dreamers drained 19 three-pointers in 44 attempts to top the New Taipei Kings 115-99, improving their record to 8-4. The 19 treys were one short of the league record of 20.
Julian Boyd led the charge for the Dreamers with 27 points and 18 rebounds while forward Chris McCullough paced the Kings with 33 points and 11 rebounds.
Dreamers head coach Kyle Julius said the team had worked on being cleaner and more deliberate on offense, and the results were evident against the Kings.
“I’m not surprised by the shooting, I know what we’re capable of, the offense is designed to get those shots. I just think during the year we’ve had trouble figuring out how to execute the offense with different lineups,” Julius said.
Entering the game, the Dreamers had a half game lead over the Kings, and the victory gave them early bragging rights.
New Taipei Kings trounce Kaohsiung Steelers: The Kings rebounded Sunday in Kaohsiung when they trounced the Kaohsiung Steelers 100-70 behind Taiwan national hero Quincy Davis’ 17 points.
The win gave the Kings a 7-5 record, moving them back to within a game of the Dreamers.
Kings newcomer DeAndre Liggins also scored 17 points, while Steelers center Keith Benson posted a double-double of 21 points and 18 rebounds.
It was the second loss of the weekend for the Steelers, who were playing without team captain Lu Cheng-ju (???), moving them into last place with a record of 4-9.
Braves outhustle Steelers: The Steelers got their first taste Saturday of what life will be like without Lu a day earlier when they were easily defeated at home by the defending champion Taipei Fubon Braves on Saturday.
Braves shooting guard Jet Chang (???) poured in 28 points to help his team pocket the 106-87 victory over the Steelers at Kaohsiung Fengshan Stadium.
Lu, who was the league’s MVP for the month of January, injured tendons in the middle and ring fingers of his right hand at practice on Friday and is expected to miss at least four weeks.
A Taiwan basketball veteran, Lu has made 995 three-pointers over his career, and fans will have to wait at least another month before he reaches the 1,000 three-pointer milestone.
Early record setter: T1 League’s New Taipei CTBC DEA forward Cleanthony Early set two records for the young league in leading his team over the Taiwan Beer HeroBears 115-94 Taipei Heping Basketball Gymnasium on Saturday.
He set the record for most points in a quarter with 20 in the first quarter and most points in a half with 31 in the first half.
But Early’s clinic had to close early as he was ejected with 1:46 left in the first half after throwing the ball in the face of HeroBears forward Chou Po-hsun (???) after Chou fouled him.
The 203 cm Early was given an unsportsmanlike foul for the ball-in-face incident, which, coupled with a technical foul he drew earlier in the game, got him ejected.
It was Early’s second consecutive ejection, after he was thrown out in the third quarter of the DEA’s game on Feb. 13 against the Tainan TSG GhostHawks in Tainan after collecting a second technical foul.
The DEA improved their record to 10-5 to move within 1 1/2 games of the league-leading Kaohsiung Aquas, while the Herobears fell to 8-5.
Taichung’s Jordan Heading fires up: The Taichung Wagor Suns’ Gilas Pilipinas standout Jordan Heading put on a show in Sunday’s 115-95 matchup against the Herobears at Taipei Heping Basketball Gymnasium, draining 10 three-pointers to set a new T1 LEAGUE record.
He had the old record with eight three-pointers set in a game on Jan. 16 against the Taoyuan Leopards.
The Filipino-Australian basketball star registered 36 points to lead his team to victory and improve its record to 8-6, tying the Wagor Suns for third place in the six-team league with the Herobears, who fell back to 8-6.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel