Barracudas fall to Tigers

THE Brunei Barracudas failed in their bid for back-to-back victories after bowing to the Thailand Tigers 77-66 yesterday in the Asean Basketball League (ABL) at the Nimibutr National Stadium in Bangkok.

It was sweet revenge for the Thai side who lost 91-86 to the Barracudas last Saturday at the Indoor Stadium of the Hassanal Bolkiah National Sports Complex.

Chaz Briggs came up big with a double-double posting 27 points and 14 rebounds and Attaporn Lertmalaiporn contributed 17 points.

On the other hand, Don Camaso led the Barracudas with 17 points while American Reggie Larry posted a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds including six steals.

Mike Pilgrim and Francis 'Kiko' Adriano each posted 10 points to a losing cause.

While both teams started slow, the Barracudas managed to get the upperhand at 6-5 lead midway through the opening period but poor shooting allowed the Thailand Tigers to regain the lead at 19-17 going into the second quarter.

It was a seesaw battle for both teams in the second period as they were neck and neck, exchanging baskets throughout the stanza. however, poor ball handling and passing by the Tigers resulted in turnovers which the Barracudas exploited as they took a 39-33 cushion at halftime.

The hosts were disorganised at both ends of the floor and the momentum was clearly with the Barracudas as they were enjoying a double-digit lead midway through the period at 50-39.

However, the Tigers stormed back and outscored the Barracudas 15-4 from a series of turnovers to tie the game at 54 apiece heading into the final stanza.

The Tigers played aggressively in the final quarter while the Barracudas dug a deeper hole for themselves by making turnovers down the stretch as the Tigers went on for the victory to complete their revenge.

Brunei's first professional basketball team were shooting a miserable 31 per cent from the field making 28 out of 91 attempts.

In contrast, the Tigers shot 52 per cent making 31 out of 60 attempts. To make matters worse, The Barracudas were five for 27 from three-point territory and were not helped by going five for 16 from the charity stripe.

The Tigers had 30 turnovers compared to the Barracudas with 12 but it was not enough as they slumped to their fifth defeat of the season.

"It was very disappointing as we just threw it away. We were starting to pull away in the third quarter but the momentum changed as they were hitting some big shots and their crowd got into behind them which made things difficult for us," said Benny Ang, Barracudas manager.

Barracudas point guard, Leo Avenido, felt that the team didn't perform on par to their previous performance that led to their downfall.

"I don't think there are any excuses. I guess we just played badly and we couldn't even make our free throws," said Avenido, who chipped in eight points in the game. "Our opponents just came out playing better than us and we were caught off guard this time. But we will just have to move on and work harder for our next game."

The Barracudas will have a two week break before they play host to the KL Dragons at the Indoor Stadium on December 9.

Meanwhile, the KL Dragons posted their third win of the season by upsetting the Singapore Slingers 86-74 yesterday at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Rudy Lingganay led the Dragons with 21 points while Chris Kuete contributed 20 points. Jamal Brown came up with a sterling performance by posting a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.

On the other hand, Hong Wei Jian topscored for the Slingers with 18 points and Michael LeBlanc with 13 points. Kyle Jeffers also managed a double-double with 12 points and 16 rebounds.

Despite the loss, the Slingers remain on top of the standings with 12 points followed by the Philippine Patriots with 11 points. Satria Muda BritAma and the Dragons both have 10 points, the Barracudas have nine and the Tigers eight points.

The Brunei Times