Caelan Tiongson’s 30-point game was weathered by Jason Brickman and Kaohsiung, as they whipped Taoyuan, 133-116, in the 2021-22 T1 League season, Sunday at Kaohsiung Arena.
The impressive win shows that the Aquas finally got their groove back after suffering back-to-back losses to close out January.
Kaohsiung went up to 11-3 to keep solo lead in the six-team league while handing Taoyuan its eighth straight loss to fall to 1-10.
Holding a 72-68 lead early in the third canto, the Aquas broke away with a blistering 22-5 spurt. The duo of Mindaugas Kupšas and Hu Longmao poured it on during the rally as Tiongson got into foul trouble.
The Leopards could not recover from that run, falling behind by as much as 24 points, 120-96, after a bucket courtesy of Lin Jenhong midway through the final frame.
Kupšas wound up with a strong line of 37 points, 17 rebounds, and four blocks.
Ferrakohn Hall and Yu Chunan led the Aquas’ bench mob with 17 points each with the former also grabbing 10 rebounds while the latter draining five treys. Hu added 24 points while Lin got 11 points.
Gluing things together for the Aquas was Jason Brickman, who produced eight assists, five rebounds, and two points.
After being held to just single digits in their past games, Tiongson finally broke out of his slump. He went 11-of-16 from the field while shooting 6-of-6 from deep. He also had four rebounds before fouling out late in the game.
John Gillon tallied 24 points, five rebounds, five assists, and five steals while Troy Williams put up 25 points and 17 rebounds.
Kaohsiung will again face Taoyuan on Sunday at Chung Yuan Christian University Gymnasium. Prior to that, the Leopards will host Tainan TSG.
