The Terrific 12: Guangzhou streak continues on day two as they secure semi-final spot
Chinese side dominate at Studio City to ensure they reach the last-four with a game to spare
It was close throughout and play began to heat up in the third quarter as the Lions started to pull away but the Dinos kept fighting and took the lead after they going on an 8-0 run to head 62-61 near the end of the third period.
The team from Taiwan’s Super Basketball League (SBL) is led by the league’s MVP Lu Cheng-ju and he was their leading scorer with 19 points in the game.
The Lions found their rhythm late in the game and went on a 9-0 run of their own led by former Greek League champion, Ioannis Bourousis, who posted 32 points, 14 rebounds and four 3-pointers together with Lin Chih-chieh, who managed 14 points and seven rebounds to go back in front at 82-72 in the fourth.
Mobis Phoebus against the Guangzhou Long-Lions was a game featuring two powerhouse teams that put their size and speed on display. Mobis Phoebus’ star man Ra Gunah controlled the paint leading the team with a monster line of 37 points, 16 rebounds and a very efficient 71 per cent from the field. Mo Speights worked his signature style, doing the damage from the outside while clogging the paint in the defensive end.
He finished the game with an equally impressive line of 30 points, 10 rebounds and connected on six three-pointers.
Phoebus tightened up their defence late in the second quarter which resulted in the biggest lead in the half 51-39. The tides turned, however, in the third quarter led by some beautiful passing and shooting from Shannon Shorter who finished the game with strong stats across the board – 38 points, 14 rebounds, five assists, two blocks and a steal.
It was a complete turnaround as they headed to the fourth quarter with Phoebus leading 71-69. Speights hit a difficult clutch 3 with a minute remaining to tie the game up at 89-89.
The fourth quarter ended with both teams playing lock-down defence to force the game into overtime. In added time, both teams hit big shots one after the other. Fogg hit a beautiful floater to take a four point cushion at 98-94 with a little over a minute left on the clock.
Phoebus pulled closer with three straight points from the foul line, and with 13 seconds left Phoebus had a chance to win it, but Shorter missed a difficult three as time expired handing a hard-earned 98-97 victory to the Long-Lions in one of the most exciting games so far at The Terrific 12.
However, the team from Japan were just too strong. Ryouma Hashimoto heated up in the second half hitting three 3s, which helped the Kings pull away for good.
Hashimoto finished with a line of 17 points going four from five behind the arc. There was little resistance after that, as Ryukyu closed the game 74-59.
The Seoul Samsung Thunders looked to punch their ticket to The Terrific 12 semi-finals with a win over Shandong Xiwang. But with two former NBA Players in Donatas Motiejunas and Andrew Goudelock leading the way, it would not be a walk in the park.
The Thunders were on fire at the start of the game, hitting an unbelievable eight from 11 from beyond the arc in the first quarter to put them up 32-24.
They continued in the second quarter as Glenn Cosey extended the lead to 21 making it 54-33 at the half. The Thunders were too much for Shandong as Ben Mbala controlled the paint scoring 19 points including a couple of beautiful baskets.
Lee Gwan-hee made his presence felt on the defensive side of the game as well. He finished with 17 points shooting three from five.
Cosey also had another excellent game with 21 points and eight assists. Efforts from Motiejunas, who scored 15 points and grabbed 16 boards, were not enough as they fell to the Thunders with a final score of 85-73.
