| Fadhil Yunus |
BRUNEI Beruang Blazers progressed into the championship final match to set up a clash against Kuching Lord Tiger in the Grand Borneo Invitational Challenge after recording a 95-87 win over Miri King Kong in the semis at the Indoor Stadium of the Hassanal Bolkiah National Sports Complex last night.
The tournament hosts booked their berth into tonight’s final after surviving a tense quarter which saw Miri King Kong reducing a 12-point gap and then briefly tying the match 55-55.
However, Beruang moved forward with some breathing space and had enough artillery in their arsenal to avoid another scare from their opponents.
Filipino import Jeff Viernes showed his collection of good individual plays for the hosts before a long pass being sprayed forward was too strong for a team-mate.
Miri’s Foronda John Julien made his mark with a strong move but Beruang had the upper hand as the second quarter closed.
King Kong stepped up in the third quarter and applied pressure starting with a nice layup from Foronda and after Ben Sim committed a foul they narrowed the lead.
Beruang’s opponents set the offence with Llagas cutting inside before making yet another two points while a bad pass allowed the opponents to pull forward and finish a fine move.
Viernes produced a floater before Lau Bik Ing drove forward and forced a foul from Beruang’s Jamri Ramlee.
The Miri captain duly converted successive free throws to put his side within touching distance.
Beruang’s Choo Yung Jian dribbled the ball and looked for a team-mate on the right side but an attempt for three points was no good.
Foronda demonstrated his physical strength and drove down the middle before finding Tiong Ing Kiat who sank the three points. Jose then forced inside but the import was thwarted by good defensive play from Foronda.
Viernes then raced down the court and made the shot before the referee called a foul on Llagas which was his first personal foul.
Inspired by Han Ming Kwang’s defensive masterclass, the rebound falling to Ben, the captain marched forward before setting an assist for Jose who made no mistake for the two points.
Foronda made a tough nice shot as Beruang Blazers drew a sigh of relief after further misses from the opponents. Kiat made it three points to tie the match 55-55 in the third quarter before good defensive plays by Ming Kwang ensured that they will not stretch their lead.
Viernes did the hard work by wrapping the ball around his back to prepare a nice layup but the move did not fall through.
However, he won a foul from Tiong Ing Kun and the team penalty resulted in free throws. The first attempt was short before the shooter made amends with the subsequent attempt.
Muhd Zainul Ashyraf bin Haji Hussin started the flow for the Beruang Blazers at the start of the fourth quarter making a good hustle before finishing the move in his second attempt.
Llagas was left alone at the middle to make two points before Jose managed to make the hard shot. Kiat made another three pointers as his team looked to find a way back into the match.
Ben had an eye for the three pointers but missed before Lai Boon Kai’s soft touch allowed his team a sniff in the match trailing by five.
With the clock ticking down, Jose made it two points with all but seal Beruang Blazers a place in the final.
Brunei Beruang Blazers head coach Rabboni Rosito indicated that they have to be extremely focussed in order to give them a chance to win the championship.
“We’ll have to be 101 per cent focussed because if we don’t focus, we might lose the battle. Until the last buzzer is out, we will not give up on defence,” said the head coach.
With the team inspired by Ming Kwang admirable defensive heroics, the Filipino coach credited all of his players in producing a solid defensive performance.
“The term that I gave them was more on the domination. We dominated the defence especially the rebounds. We dominated the game and luckily we won,” said Rabboni.
“If we don’t have the heart to defend, we will lose the game. Hopefully, I told them we are already at home so it’s not to win or go home. It’s better that we win or we win big,” the head coach said.
Beruang Blazers will be looking to exact redemption tonight following their preliminary round loss to favourites Kuching Lord Tiger, who beat Pontianak Vois 76-53 in the other semi showdown.
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