Agel hand Jia Hua 1st defeat

Agel extended their unbeaten streak to four games with a 64-49 victory over Jia Hua Enterprise in Group B of the 23 years old and below of the Brunei Youth Basketball Tournament at the Kampung Baru basketball court in Seria last night.

Liew Ming Yang and Darren Wong each poured in 10 points to pace Agel.

Choo Yung Kang and Hung Jiunn Nan each had matching game-highs of 16 points to a losing cause.

Both teams got off to equal starts and they were finding it hard to get it going at the offensive end. It remained close and the game was deadlocked at 13-13 heading into the second quarter.

Agel were not playing their usual game and were not passing the ball much. They were rushing their shots but somehow managed to open up a 31-21 advantage at halftime.

Agel regrouped in the third quarter and started knocking down shots from both the inside and outside.

Jia Hua Enterprise were left flat-footed for much of the period but didn't let their opponents run away with the scoreboard reading 45-33 going into the final stanza.

With both teams having already booked their berths in the semi-finals, the game was kept close but it was not enough to prevent Jia Hua Enterprise from falling to their first defeat of the tournament.

"We didn't play well in the first half as everyone was too excited to get on the scoresheet since both teams had already made it into the semi-finals. We didn't play with any teamwork while our rivals played pretty well," said Yeo Chun Kiat, a forward of Agel, in an interview with The Brunei Times, after the win.

"We had a team talk at halftime and adjusted at both ends of the floor. We executed well on offence and did everything needed on defence by boxing out for rebounds too," added Yeo.

Agel will now face SH, who easily disposed of Kode-Name 60-26 in Group A in the second game, in the semi-finals today at 8.15pm.

Asked about their encounter against SH, Yeo replied: "We have good confidence to play against them as we have met them in previous tournaments before. We know their style of play and we know what we have to do.

"We should try to get inside since they have got some tall players and cover their shooters at the other end," he added.

On the other hand, Lim Liang Wei, a forward of SH, feels that they are the underdogs heading into the game.

"It would be a 50-50 game if we have (Han) Ming Kwang but he won't be available due to injury. Agel are a strong team that have been playing together for some time and they have the home court advantage making it more difficult," said Lim.

The first semi-final match will see ABC go up against Jia Hua Enterprise at 7pm.

The Brunei Times