BASKETBALL/Pilots secure second straight PLG title

Taipei, June 19 (CNA) The Taoyuan Pauian Pilots routed the Taipei Fubon Braves 107-81 in Game 7 of the 2025-26 P.LEAGUE+ (PLG) Finals on Thursday to secure back-to-back championships, as Taiwan basketball legend Lin Chih-chieh (林志傑) played the final game of his career.

Pilots big man Alec Brown, who averaged 15.2 points and 8.3 rebounds across the seven-game series, was named Finals MVP. He knocked down four three-pointers and scored 14 points Thursday.

Brown said the Finals tested the Pilots in ways they had not experienced during a dominant regular season, forcing the team to rely on defense and hustle after struggling to shoot well throughout much of the series.

"For us to push through those moments, fight, play defense and do the little things to make up for that lack of shooting, I'm just really proud of the guys for coming together," he said.

Pilots star forward Lu Chun-hsiang (盧峻翔), who recently won his third consecutive PLG regular season MVP award, led the team with 26 points, followed by Setric Deon Miller Jr.'s 24.

Meanwhile, Braves shooting guard Archie Lee Goodwin III posted a game-high 44 points, including a 26-point third quarter that broke the previous Finals record of 19 points in a quarter, set by Jeremy Lin (林書豪).

Goodwin's scoring rampage kept the Braves within 12 points at the start of the fourth quarter, but the Pilots opened the fourth quarter with a 15-6 run, snuffing out any hopes of a Fubon comeback.

The Pilots bulldozed through the four-team league and finished the regular season with a 21-3 record, making them the overwhelming favorites to win the title.

However, the Braves, who finished second at 12-12, pushed the defending champions to the limit by winning Games 1, 3 and 5 to take a 3-2 series lead.

The Pilots controlled the game from start to finish Thursday and never trailed after Lu's stepback three-pointer gave them a 10-8 lead four minutes in.

Braves head coach Roger Hsu (許晉哲) said his players appeared exhausted after failing to close out the series in a 72-69 loss on Tuesday.

"You could tell the players had nothing left today, both offensively and defensively," Hsu said.

Lin, 44, who is set to retire after the season, finished the final game of his career with two points and seven rebounds.

Asked about ending his career without another championship, Lin said he was more disappointed for the team than for himself.

"I felt regret that we as a team could not win the title," he said. "It was a shame that we did not take the last game [Game 6] in Taipei."

The PLG is one of two professional basketball leagues in Taiwan. The other one, the Taiwan Professional Basketball League, consists of seven teams and saw the Formosa Dreamers beat the New Taipei Kings 4-3 in the Finals to win the franchise's first title on June 6.

At Thursday's post-game conference, Pilots head coach Iurgi Caminos proposed to hold an interleague series, assuming the Dreamers to be their opponents.

"I want to have a Taiwan Series next summer. My proposal is one game in Taoyuan, one game in Taichung. If there is a third one, maybe we can play in Hsinchu or Miaoli, and we draw to play the first home game and see who is the real champions of Taiwan," he said.