Basketball: Easy for Easyway

EASYWAY BUNUT cruised to an 88-59 victory over SKK in Group A action to advance to the semi-finals of the Under-23 category of the Basketball Youth Cup at the Brunei Basketball Association court in Batu Bersurat last night.

Hj Md Rahmat Hj Suhaili topscored for Easyway Bunut with 24 points and Joven Umali contributed 21 points.

On the other hand, Tang Siang Thai led SKK with 18 points in a losing effort.

It was a closely contested affair in the opening minutes of the game with both teams equally matched at both ends of the floor.

Easyway Bunut were relying on their speed to get them the points as they opened up an 11-8 lead midway through the period.

SKK had no rhythm on offence and were not helped by their turnovers trailing 17-12 heading into the second quarter.

Easyway Bunut were cleaning the boards with their height and size advantage whereas Tang was trying to keep SKK in the match by attacking from the paint to score.

SKK seemed to tire with only two substitutes on the bench as Easyway Bunut extended their lead to double digits at 40-28 at halftime.

Easyway Bunut came out playing defence, limiting their opponents to outside shots and it worked effectively.

They were also rotating the ball well in finding the open man for easy points helping them to extend their advantage to 65-44 going into the final stanza.

SKK couldn't execute on offence because of the watertight defence set up by their opponents in the fourth quarter causing them to make turnovers.

Meanwhile, Easyway Bunut continued to execute well on offence as they cruised to victory.

"We had to play conservative basketball in the opening half as we only had six players in the beginning. We played the 1-2-2 defence to shut down their shooters with minimal running," said Maxim Yap, the head coach of Easyway Bunut, in an interview with The Brunei Times after the triumph.

"It was our 3-2 defence later in the game that worked effectively. It caused our opponents to make turnovers for easy points," added Yap.

Asked on what should be improved before their semi-final match, Yap replied: "We need to improve on our baseline defence and minimise our turnovers for a chance of making it to the final."

Easyway Bunut have set up a date with the winners of Group B, Easyway Qlap, in their semi-final clash on Monday.

In yesterday's early game, Stars were handed a walkover victory over OSP in the Under-18 category.The Brunei Times