YTE demolish Gadong Boy

YUAN TONG ENTERPRISE (YTE) bounced back from their opening-day loss with a 104-50 demolition of the Gadong Boy in the 2009 Brunei Pepsi Cup last night at the Brunei Basketball Association (BBA) court in Batu Bersurat.

Esmond Tan scored 24 points and Benjamin Lim added 18 points for YTE, which lost to Linktech 77-76 last Saturday.

Zaldy Umandap topscored with 12 points for Gadong, who absorbed their second straight loss.

YTE, represented by the national team, raced to a 26-17 lead and never looked back.

YTE put on a strong 1-3-1 full court pressure defence in the second quarter, a strategy which made Gadong commit numerous turnovers.

YTE took advantage of their height, executing their offence by feeding their big men to score easily from inside the paint. Gadong Boy, on the other hand, tried but failed to execute on offence and managed to score only eight points in the second quarter.

Tan led the way in the second period with fastbreaks to score 14 points while Gadong Boy had problems controlling the ball. YTE headed into the interval up 53-25.

The demolition continued in the third quarter as YTE continued pounding their way past the Gadong Boy defence. There was no way back for Gadong Boy when YTE extended the lead to 30 points midway through the third period at 64-34.

It was more than over before the fourth quarter with YTE leading 80-38. YTE set up a shooting clinic in the final period as the players were shooting at will to complete their impressive form with seven three-pointers in the quarter to finish off their opponents.

YTE head coach, Tony Tan, was trying out different strategies throughout the second half to see how his players could fit together.

"I was trying to condition the players. We haven't had any chance to train before the tournament started because we had no venue so we took this as an opportunity to try out some strategies from the 1-3-1 full court pressure defence and the 3-2 formation," said Tony.

"It is different when we train as a team because we know how each one on the team plays. But it was good for us to try it out tonight (Saturday) as we could try things out in a real game which I find really useful," Tony added.

However, Tony is confident in advancing from their group to make it into the quarterfinals but remains wary about KOF which they will face next Friday as KOF almost stole a win from Linktech last Friday.

"They played really well against Linktech but I think we would be ready for them by then. We'll just have to see how it goes," said Tony.

In the lone women's match, Ismakom defeated RanoAdidas Rockettes 61-49 for their second straight win. RanoAdidas Rockettes, on the other hand, are out of contention after absorbing their second straight loss.

With only four teams competing in the women's division, Ismakom and Muara Gas have advance to the championship round. Muara Gas also have two wins.

Sally Beauty Saloon are made their exit with two losses.

Tonight's matches will see winless Chua Auto Mobile take on Gadong Boy from Group A at 7pm. The second match will pit Group B leaders Chop Eng Seng Keo Pinoy Resources against Team Wayne 'A' at 8.30pm.

The Brunei Times