HeroBears, DEA reach interleague basketball tournament QF as top seeds

Taipei, Sept. 24 (CNA) The T1 LEAGUE's Taipei-based TaiwanBeer HeroBears and New Taipei CTBC DEA swept into the quarterfinals of Taiwan's first-ever interleague basketball tournament as the joint top seeds on Saturday, after winning every game in their respective groups during the group phase round robin.

Following the opening round-robin six-team group stage, which tipped off Sept. 17, the top four sides from each group now advance to the single-elimination knockout stage, with the quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals to be played on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, respectively.

On Saturday, the last day of the group stage at the "2022 Interleague Play tournament," the HeroBears overpowered Super Basketball League (SBL) team P. LEAGUE+ Rising Stars 78-71 to finish with a 5-0 record in Group A, while the DEA routed the Taichung Suns 82-50 to earn a 5-0 record in Group B.

HeroBears point guard Chiang Yu-an (蔣淯安) and power forward Chou Po-hsun (周伯勳) led all scorers with 19 points each. Meanwhile, DEA point guard Wei Chia-hao (魏嘉豪) posted 13 points, eight rebounds, and nine assists, leaving him just two rebounds and an assist shy of a triple-double.

Other teams that also booked slots in the quarterfinals from Group A are Taiwan's national development squad (4-1), T1 LEAGUE's Tainan TSG GhostHawks (3-2), and SBL's Yulon Luxgen Dinos (2-3), while the SBL's Bank of Taiwan (3-2), P. LEAGUE+'s Hsinchu JKO Lioneers (3-2), and the T1 LEAGUE's Taoyuan Leopards (2-3) advanced to the quarterfinals from Group B.

In the quarterfinals on Sunday, Bank of Taiwan will face the GhostHawks, Taiwan's national development squad will face the Lioneers, the DEA will play the Dinos, while the HeroBears will be pitted against the Leopards.

The HeroBears also defeated the Dinos 92-69 Sept. 17, Changhua BLL 102-77 Sept. 18, GhostHawks 99-85 Sept. 19, and Taiwan's national development squad 86-65 Sept. 22.

Meanwhile, the DEA defeated Leopards 94-62 Sept. 17, Lioneers 76-68 Sept. 19, Bank of Taiwan 102-86 Sept. 21, and Taiwan Beer 77-54 Sept. 23.

Organized by the Chinese Taipei Basketball Association (CTBA), the tournament is being held at Taipei's Heping Basketball Gymnasium and features a total of 12 teams.

The tournament replaced the Taipei-hosted international invitational William Jones Cup, which was called off for the third year in a row due to COVID-19 border restrictions.

Taiwan has three basketball leagues: the professional leagues T1 LEAGUE and P. LEAGUE+, which both have six teams, and the semi-pro SBL, which has four teams.