Taipei Fubon Braves win over the Macau Black Bears in opening game, 95-91

Charles Garcia

The Braves secured their first game of the tenth season of the ASEAN Basketball League after knocking down the Macau Black Bears, 95-91 at the Taipei Heping Gymnasium on November 16 Saturday. The Braves built an early 10-point lead in the first quarter but the Black Bears went back at them and cut the deficit to only a point. The Black Bears came alive after an offensive spurt from Kenny Manigault (196-G/F-91, college: Pikeville) and Jenning Leung in the second quarter, finishing the 1st half in a deadlock, 48-48. Both teams traded multiple baskets during the third quarter but Brandon Edwards gave the Black Bears a 4-point cushion in the last minutes of the third quarter, 72-68. Gentle giant Sim Bhullar (226-C-92, college: N.Mexico St.) slowly controlled the inside in the first minutes of the fourth quarter with a couple of offensive rebounds and inside shots. He tallied, 14 points and 6 rebounds. In the fourth quarter, the McKinney-led Black Bears rallied back to a 1-point deficit after the Braves committed five turnovers with 1:30 minutes left in the last quarter. With 20.43 seconds left in the quarter, the Black Bears failed to mount a comeback after Warren Liang hit the foul limit and was called for an unsportsmanlike foul on Chih-Chieh Lin (192-G-82). The Braves' local veteran and star player Chih-Chieh Lin had a hot shooting game and tallied 21 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists. Charles Garcia (208-F-88, college: Seattle) paced the Braves with 23 points and 12 rebounds. Wen-Cheng Tsai (190-G/F-85) helped the cause with 13 markers. Manigault and Mikh McKinney (184-G-92, college: Sacramento St.) led the way for the Macau Black Bears with 31 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 23 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, respectively. The Taipei Fubon Braves will go up against the Kuala Lumpur Dragons on November 17 at the Taipei Heping Gymnasium at 4:00PM (GMT+8). The Macau Black Bears will face the Macau Wolf Warriors on November 23 at 8:00 PM (GMT + 8).
Courtesy of: aseanbasketballleague.com

Tags : CHARLES GARCIA, FUBON BRAVES, MACAU BASKETBALL