Dramatic win for Movers

IN A game full of drama, Morley Movers stole a last minute 58-57 victory over Shun Wei last night in Group A of the 2nd Queenielin's Cup at the Brunei Basketball Association court in Batu Bersurat.

Ferdinand Lucida topscored for Morley Movers with 15 points while Marwyn Belleza and Bernie Toledo chipped in 13 and 11 points respectively in the victory. Sonny Bautista had a game-high of 24 points to lead Shun Wei in a losing effort.

It was Morley Movers' first win in the competition.

Shun Wei were in control early in the game with their centre, Bautista, doing whatever he liked both from the inside and outside to open up a 19-8 lead going into the second period. Morley Movers had no answers to Bautista and couldn't get anything going on offence and faced a 33-18 deficit at halftime.

A box-one defence on Bautista seemed to have worked well for the Morley Movers as they held the Shun Wei centre scoreless for the third stanza. They clawed their way back by going on fastbreaks and started making baskets from the outside. A buzzer beating shot from the baseline by Belleza brought the scores to 41-37 heading into the final quarter.

Shun Wei kept their composure and were passing the ball into the paint to get their points. The turning point of the game came with six minutes left in the match when a hard foul was called on Bautista leading to a scuffle. The referees gave technical fouls to both sides.

When the game continued it got really physical. Just a minute later with the scoreboard reading 52-47 in favour of Shun Wei, Bautista was called for another technical foul for throwing an elbow on his opponent. This meant an early shower for the Filipino.

Morley Movers put up a full court pressure defence and finally grabbed the lead for the first time at 55-54 with 52 seconds to go with a layup by Belleza. Lucida then put the match to bed by nailing two free throws, making it a two-basket match at 58-54, with 37 seconds left for the victory.

"It was really difficult stopping their centre (Bautista) as our own centre (Sherwin Antonio) couldn't turn up for the game. But it was our defence in the second half that helped us cut the deficit. In the end, it was their main man that fouled out and this led to their collapse," said Belleza, the captain of Morley Movers, yesterday.

Asked about the scuffle, Belleza replied: "I tried to talk to him (Bautista)to get him to cool down as he was getting really physical, but it just didn't work out."

The competition continues tomorrow.The Brunei Times