| Fadhil Yunus |
FU ZHOU Shiyyi Association will join YTE in the final of the YOU-C 1000 Basketball Cup after eliminating Teo & Sons in the last four with a 116-102 victory at the Brunei Basketball Association Court in Batu Bersurat last night.
Teo & Sons were dealt a severe blow early in the first quarter after foreign import Rashad Ali was handed two technical fouls which resulted in the player not having any part of the match.
Fu Zhou Shiyyi Association slowly built a 12-point lead as Kevin Tay set the tone with a delightful three-pointer and Mike Fey racking up the free throws.
The Group ‘A’ winners turned on the style punctuated by an excellent combination which initially started with a pass from Don Mordeno who supplied the ball to Fey before his quick release set up Darrel Dela Cruz for a fine team move.
Josh White, who featured for large periods of the game, was also instrumental in another link-up play after combining well with Fey who provided another assist for a three-pointer.
Fu Zhou were raining three pointers with White and Tay running hot as Frederick tried to pick his team Teo & Sons with a three pointer of his own.
Fey also demonstrated his defensive abilities with an emphatic block though shortly after Frederick Jones trimmed the lead to 19 points with his free throw.
Fu Zhou ensured that they finished the first quarter carrying a lead of more than 20 points after RJ Lucida managed to make a two-point play with virtually the last second.
Josh White dropped a three-pointer to continue his good run of points as his side’s lead grew as wide as 25 points but Teo & Sons managed to cut it down to 19 at the end of the second quarter.
Then, a good start from Teo & Sons in the early period of the third quarter laid the foundation of a stunning comeback as they rallied to see their deficit reduced to a manageable 12 points.
Fu Zhou Shiyyi Association endured a setback after Darrell Dela Cruz was forced off the court due to an injury.
Fu Zhou had brought on Don Mordeno from the reserves in the start of the second half and he helped bring calm to his side by extending their lead to 15 points.
Josh White delivered another three-pointer as Fu Zhou started to pull away before his strong drive in the box helped his side to regain a healthy lead that they had built in the first half.
Fu Zhou’s Lim Liang Wei also had an impressive display after a 25-point game in the second half helped his side clear of a possible resurgence from Teo & Sons.