Babes Boutique take crown

BABES BOUTIQUE were crowned champions of the 2009 Brunei Pepsi Cup after defeating Linktech 94-79 in the final at the Brunei Basketball Association court in Batu Bersurat last night.

Majomar Aying led Babes Boutique with 27 points and Don Dadis Mordeno poured in 26.

Geve Leones contributed a game high 30 points and Elvin Requintin scored 23 for Linktech.

It was a 16-5 run by Babes Boutique in the final three minutes of the third quarter that contributed to Linktech's downfall. The great run handed them a 68-61 lead going into the final period and Babes Boutique never looked back.

Babes Boutique relied on their watertight defence as they shut down Leones, who only scored five points in the all-important third period.

On the other hand, Rhoy Binas was excellent from under the rim as he poured in 10 points in the third quarter to lift Babes Boutique after being scoreless in the first half.

Binas continued his good form with nine points in the fourth period despite Aying fouling out with six minutes left in the game.

Mordeno controlled the match from that point to slow the pace of the game and help his team to hold on for victory.

"It was in the third quarter, when we were leading by as much as 10 points, that I finally realised we could win the match ... So we adjusted our defence to stop Leones," said Kaka Espartero, the head coach of Babes Boutique.

Espartero named Mordeno as his best player last night.

"He really controlled the tempo of the game and this helped us win," said the Philippine coach after the match.

Espartero also praised his players for all their hard work.

On what's next for the team, Espartero replied: "We are looking forward to another tournament some time next month, so we have to continue training."

Linktech had started out better of the two teams as they took a 10-point lead into the second quarter at 26-16.

Linktech played good defence causing Babes Boutique to turn the ball over and were also cleaning the boards as they boxed out their opponents.

Requintin was the man in the middle for Linktech blocking shots to stop their rivals.

But Aying stepped it up a notch for Babes Boutique late in the second period scoring 12 points in the quarter to put his team only eight points behind their rivals at 47-39 going into halftime.

"The final quarter was the difference due to the fouls that went against us. I thought we played equally well but they were the team that won," said Lito Porlahe, the coach-cum-player of Linktech.

Porlahe picked Binas as Babes Boutique's best player saying the forward destroyed his team.

"Now we just have to look forward to the next tournament and continue training."

In the third place playoff match, Yuan Tong Enterprise (YTE) edged Chop Eng Seng Keo (CESK) Pinoy Resources 80-76.

Benjamin Lim led YTE with 27 points including five three-pointers while Wawie Ebanez and Jeff Paraiso each contributed 21 points for CESK.

Rogelio Galvadores of Babes Boutique took first place in the three-point shootout competition.

Ismakom, meanwhile, were winners of the women's category after beating Muara Gas 65-36 last Sunday in the championship match.

Present as the guest of honour to hand out the prizes to the winners was Deputy Director of the Department of Youth and Sports, Pg Sabri Pg Hj Mohammad.The Brunei Times