Taipei, December. The opener at Kaohsiung Aquas Stadium in T1 LEAGUE on Saturday was a tough one, with the team trailing New Taipei CTBC DEA 63-40 at halftime, but their fortunes were reversed just before the final buzzer after a 3-pointer by Chiu Tzu-hsuan (邱子軒), Which left the final score at 94-93.
The Aquas were down by two points in the fourth quarter with about five seconds left, when midfielder Lu Wei Ting (呂威霆) grabbed a defensive rebound after a missed three-pointer from Huang Hong Han (黃泓瀚).
After receiving a pass from point guard Jason Brickman on the left wing with one second remaining, Chiu lofted a shot from beyond the arc and beat the buzzer, bringing more than 8,000 spectators in the Kaohsiung area to their feet.
“I asked Jason to pass the ball to me and I could see Da Han [Huang] Coming towards me but I tried to shoot anyway. I had a lot of success in matches in high school and college, but this game definitely impressed me even more!” Chiu said.
The Aquas tied the T1 LEAGUE record for the biggest win after rallying from a 25-point lead in the third quarter.
Furthermore, Chiu’s shot handed DEA their first loss of the season, breaking the defending champions’ four-game winning streak.
The Aquas’ win was particularly surprising considering Chiu’s struggles during his second professional season.
The 23-year-old has failed to score more than five points and has only made a quarter of his 12 3-pointer attempts in his last four games.
He started Saturday’s game much the same way, making just one of his eight shots in the first half, including missing all six. With just seconds left, he had missed 12 of 14 attempts overall, before winning the late game.
“I know we’ve lost three games in a row, but we won the most important game on our homecoming today! Let’s go!” exclaimed the Taichung native during his post-match interview.
The three straight losses marked the second longest losing streak in Kaohsiung’s team history. The team lost five straight games during the 2022-23 season.
Coach Brendan Joyce praised Chiu for always bringing energy to the field and making the most of every scoring opportunity.
Meanwhile, big man Mindaugas Kopsas scored a game-high 29 points and 15 boards for Akwas, while Mohammed Al-Bashir Gadiaga led DEA with 28 points.
The Aquas will host the Tainan TSG GhostHawks at 2pm on Sunday.
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