'Easy' win on coach's birthday

The national basketball team couldn't have given national basketball coach Kevin Reece a better birthday present.

Playing under the banner of Soon Lee-Easyway 'A', they were crowned the champions of the 2010 Goh Hock Kee Cup after a sound victory over Hata Rekajaya Sdn Bhd 113-53 in last night's final, contested at the Brunei Basketball Association court in Batu Bersurat.

It was the team's first gold medal and they even bought a cake for the American in celebration of his 50th birthday with the candles to be blown out after the victory.

"It was really unexpected to say the least. It was the manager's (Wira Pori) idea and it summed up the good day. It also plays a significance especially that I hit the 5-0. I'll probably remember this championship more than the others," Reece told The Brunei Times after the triumph.

Three players hit double figures for Soon Lee-Easyway 'A' with Yap Chun Ping leading the way with 21 points. Choo Yung Jian poured in 20 points and Ben Sim added an additional 18 points to the victory.

Tony Bong topscored for Hata Rekajaya Sdn Bhd with 13 points and Nicholas Boey contributed 12 in the losing effort.

Soon Lee-Easyway 'A' got off to a hot start with a 12-0 run before Loo Zhi Hung hit a layup to put Hata Rekajaya Sdn Bhd on the scoreboard on the seventh minute mark.

The national side were pressing their opponents early on and managed to pick up steals which they took advantage of to score easy points on the break.

They were also dominating the boards and Choo summed up the first period with a three-point buzzer taking a 33-11 lead into the second quarter.

Hata Rekajaya Sdn Bhd couldn't get things going at the offensive end with their opponents putting up a watertight defence.

Soon Lee-Easyway 'A' were, however, carelessly giving away fouls and entered the penalty mark after just three minutes in the quarter.

Hata Rekajaya Sdn Bhd started to penetrate the vulnerable defence but failed to exploit the situation despite heading to the foul line. They would only make six out of their 12 attempts from the charity stripe in the period that saw them face a 27-61 deficit at halftime.

Things didn't change after the interval but Hata Rekajaya Sdn Bhd continued to play with a never-say-die attitude despite the uphill battle.

It was mere child's play for Soon Lee-Easyway 'A' as they were firmly in control that saw them seal the victory.

"It is great to accomplish the ultimate goal in any tournament. The fellas played hard and they have finally come through. We came close a couple of times and we finally got to seal the deal," said Reece.

"Some may be first timers at this and I hope it takes the pressure off them. We have managed to work more as a unit and I hope we continue to get better," added the Los Angeles native.

On the other hand, Hata Rekajaya Sdn Bhd had nothing to lose but everything to gain from the match.

"It was a good experience for us and we managed to learn a lot from it. We came into the game as the underdogs and it's good we had the opportunity to play them. There will be a next time," said Boey, the captain of Hata Rekajaya Sdn Bhd.

In the third-place playoff, Rosli Said scored the game winner for Dodge as they pipped Soon Lee-Easyway 'C' 76-75 to take bronze.

Benjamin Lim topscored for Dodge with 18 point and Rosli poured in 15 points in the victory.

Hj Md Rahmat Hj Suhaili led Soon Lee-Easyway 'C' with 14 points while Soon Kian Leong, Khoo Chin Kai and Tony Bong chipped in 13 each to the loss.

Present as the guest of honour to give away the prizes to the winners was Jake Goh Kiat Hing, the Director of Goh Hock Kee Motors.

The Brunei Times