After a first-half struggle, the Kaohsiung Aquas swept past the Tainan TSG GhostHawks on Sunday to extend their lead atop the standings of the pro basketball T1 LEAGUE.
The Aquas were down 38-37 at halftime after shooting an anemic 15-49 from the floor, and fell further behind when GhostHawks small forward Tsai Yao-hsun drained a three-pointer just 19 seconds into the third quarter.
But the Aquas quickly flipped the script, going on a 7-0 run led by point guard Yu Huan-ya to take a 44-41 lead, and they never looked back.
They outscored the GhostHawks 25-12 the rest of the quarter to take a 16-point lead into the final 12 minutes and finished the blowout with a 33-24 fourth quarter to win 102-77 and improve their record to 18-6, 2 1/2 games clear of the second-place Taichung Wagor Suns.
The GhostHawks remained in last in the six-team T1 League with a 4-19 record.
Aquas head coach Brendan Joyce said his team did not take their opponents for granted and rebounded and defended well.
“We respect everybody, we respect the GhostHawks. We never take anybody easy and because of that respect, we got the job done,” Joyce said.
The Aquas outrebounded the GhostHawks 59-43. Aquas center Mindaugas Kupsas led his team with a double-double of 19 points and 12 rebounds.
The 2.17-meter Lithuanian has been a key figure for the Aquas in the paint, earning him the honor of import player of the month for February.
Matched up against Kupsas on Sunday was 2.11-meter GhostHawks center William Artino, who had 19 points and 17 rebounds of his own.
On Monday in the T1 LEAGUE, the TaiwanBeer HeroBears topped the New Taipei CTBC DEA 95-91 on their homecourt at the University of Taipei’s Tianmu campus gym.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel