Kaohsiung, April 18 (CNA) Basketball’s Kaohsiung Aquas clinched top spot in the T1 LEAGUE’s six-team regular-season standings after powering past the Taoyuan Leopards 119-104 on Sunday.
With their defeat of the Leopards, the Aquas now have a 21-6 card and are now guaranteed to finish in first place in the regular-season standings, which will see them enter the playoff semifinals as the top-seeded side.
Responding to questions from CNA at the postgame press conference, Aquas head coach Brendan Joyce said he was very proud of his players, adding that they were creating a legacy in the T1 LEAGUE’s inaugural year.
“The emotion is proud. But also there’s an understanding that for me, the coach, to make sure that everybody celebrates this and we keep improving because our business is not done,” Joyce said.
Joyce, however, said that the team’s work would only be complete with victory in the playoffs. “We put ourselves in a really good position now and what we want to do, really, is go all the way.”
Aquas CEO Wilson Lee (李偉誠) told CNA that the job now was to win the championship title, saying that the Aquas would “continue to work hard as a team.”
“There’s only one goal — bringing the trophy home to the city of Kaohsiung,” Lee said.
“There’s only one goal — bringing the trophy home to the city of Kaohsiung,” Lee said.
Back at Sunday’s game, the Aquas held a steady lead right from the start to bring the score to a 21-point lead 59-38 at halftime.
The Leopards came back after the break with some strong performances in the third quarter, including a 12-point outing for small forward Troy Williams.
Williams finished as the game’s leading scorer thanks to a double-double of 35 points and 10 rebounds while shooting 15-17 from the free-throw line.
Even though the Taoyuan team rallied in the second half, it wasn’t enough to make up for the large difference by the Aquas.
In the last possession of the game, Leopards’ captain Cheng Wei (鄭瑋) seemed hesitant about running a play with just under eight seconds left on the clock.
Wei made a pass to teammate shooting guard Lu Chieh-min (盧捷閔), who cut into the key for a step-back jumper, only for Aquas center Willy Lu (呂威霆) to block the shot just before the buzzer.
Aquas power forward Ferrakohn Hall led his team in scoring with 31 points and was just one rebound shy of a double-double, while teammate small forward Xavier Alexander posted 28 points and 13 rebounds.
Also winning the attention of the crowd was Aquas point guard Jason Brickman, who dropped 16 dimes and put up 16 points.
The Aquas still have three more away games to play before the regular season finishes on May 8.
Suns overpower GhostHawks:
Also on Saturday, the Taichung Wagor Suns dominated the Tainan TSG GhostHawks to win 126-101, allowing the central Taiwan team to pocket its sixth win in its last seven games.
Suns forward Sani Sakakini recorded 29 points and nine rebounds, while guard Jordan Heading posted 27 points, including six from beyond the arc.
The Suns currently sit second with a 17-9 record and the GhostHawks are last after only winning five games out of 26 played so far this season.
Steelers breakdown in 4th quarter against Braves:
The Kaohsiung Steelers suffered a major breakdown in the fourth quarter to post only five points in the fourth quarter in a game against the Taipei Fubon Braves Sunday in Taiwan’s other professional basketball league P. LEAGUE+.
Up by one-point at the end of the third quarter, the Steelers walked into the fourth quarter 82-81 and widens the score to 85-81 after forward Anthony Bennett nails a bucket from downtown at around nine and half minutes left on the clock at Kaohsiung Fengshan Stadium.
But, from there, the Steelers were unable to stop a 16-0 run brought on by the Braves, forcing the Kaohsiung team to call a time out with just under five minutes left in the game.
For the remainder of the game, the Braves were able to pocket another 12-point run before Steelers guard Wang Lu-hsiang (王律翔) hit a jumper from the perimeter with just under 20 seconds left in the game.
On the last possession, the Braves ran down the clock to win 109-87.
The Braves rank third in the six-team league rankings with a 15-9 card, while the Steelers are last having only won 6 out of 25 games played so far this season.
Lioneers outhustle Kings in OT:
Also, in the P. LEAGUE+ Sunday, the Hsinchu Jko Lioneers clinched a 123-116 overtime win against the New Taipei Kings at Xinzhuang Gymnasium.
Lioneers center 2.26 m-tall Sim Bhullar set a new record of 50 points. He also grabbed 32 rebounds.
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