| Fadhil Yunus |
WALTIQUE ensured that they will leave the YOU-C 1000 Basketball Cup with a victory to savour after outpointing Ceramic Pro Brunei 81-72 at the Brunei Basketball Association Court in Batu Bersurat last night.
Both teams have already qualified to the quarterfinals but there was a small matter of not finishing at the bottom of Group ‘B’ and avoiding a meeting with Group ‘A’ winners YTE in the last eight.
And it was Waltique that avoided the tournament contenders after sealing third place and their reward will be a tie against a Frederick Jones-inspired Teo & Sons. Ceramic Pro Brunei, who settled for fourth place in Group ‘B’, will face a sterner test against the overwhelming favourites YTE.
In the race for third place, Waltique and Ceramic Pro was equally poised by the end of the second quarter with the latter taking a slender one-point lead 44-43.
Waltique’s Friedrich Bernabe enjoyed a game-high of 22 points while teammate Eric Palanca also contributed with 18 points.
However, the pendulum swung in the favour of the rejuvenated Waltique after the interval as Nur Hassan Jauhali dropped a three-pointer which set the tone for the rest of the game.
Ceramic fought back with Tan Ye Wei and captain Andy Lin combining but they could not make the free throws count as a perfect visit for free throws from captain Eric Palanca nudged Waltique further ahead.
The lead grew to eight points after Friedrich Bernabe showed his scoring prowess before Ceramic trimmed the deficit after Waltique’s Gerry Oral inadvertently threw the ball into an opposing play whilst trying to prevent the ball from going out of play.
Waltique regained their eight-point cushion and moved into double digits at the start of the fourth quarter but the halfway mark saw signs of a revival from Ceramic.
Ceramic had their chances to make it a closer affair when they gathered momentum after scoring four consecutive points through Tan Ye Wei and Goh Kheng Yih and their defence also withstood a barrage of pressure in a bid for a clean run of points.
Ceramic missed the chance to cut the gap to just three points after missing a two-point play and this enabled Waltique another opportunity to gain some distance which they took with open arms after being awarded a free throw.
Waltique gained a seven-point lead helped by a good conversion rate and as Ceramic missed out on starting a run of points after a miss from Lim How after being set up by Tan Ye Wei.
Ceramic was unfortunate not to see the ball drop after a toilet bowl moment before a rebound led Waltique into launching an attack in the offence.
Eric helped his side to a 10-point lead after a good hustle having seen the team initially losing the ball before returning to put them further ahead as Waltique enjoyed two rebounds in a matter of seconds.
Tan collected the points for Ceramic for the first time in the fourth quarter before misses from Lim and Lim Teck Cheng sent the initiative back to Waltique.
Waltique’s Friedrick obliged with a fine shot from a central position but a three-pointer by Tan offered Ceramic a glimmer of hope.
Palanca utilised his strength to outmuscle the Ceramic defence with four crucial points and it proved pivotal as their opponents looked to find a route back into the tie which looked to be a possibility once Lim single-handedly mustered five points.
However, with less than a minute of the clock remaining, Eric made it safe for Waltique ending the match with a successful conversion of free throws.