Sharks devour Jodico whole

A 23-POINT run in the third quarter was enough for Sharks to see off Jodico Construction Sdn Bhd 82-74 in Group A of the second round for the 38-year-old and below category of the Syarikat MK Jazmar Cup on Tuesday night at the Brunei Basketball Association court in Batu Bersurat.

In what was their fifth consecutive victory, Sharks, who are unbeaten in the competition, saw Aries Castro put in a team-high 21 points while Don Mordeno added another 18 points in the triumph.

On the other hand, four players notched double figures for Jodico, a team comprising all Malay players, with Hj Md Rahmat Hj Suhaili notching a game-high of 26 points and Ahmad Termizi Hj Nordeen poured in 13 first half points.

Meanwhile, Zainul Ashyraf Hj Hussin and Md Azrani Hamzah contributed 11 and 10 points respectively to the losing effort.

Jodico had come out of the game the more aggressive team and shot the ball well for an early 8-3 lead. Sharks looked to be in disarray with no coordination on defence but soon found rhythm to spark an 11-0 run.

A quick timeout resulted in Jodico exploiting their opponents' weaknesses and went on the break to score easily.

Hj Md Rahmat had the hot hands early for 12 first quarter points including back to back threes but despite his efforts, Sharks held on for a 23-22 advantage heading into the second quarter with a Rommel Valmores three-pointer that beat the buzzer.

Each time Jodico got the defensive rebound, it resulted to a quick outlet pass which led to easy fast break points as Sharks were slow getting back on defence.

Sharks went ice cold from the field, failing to nail their baskets and it allowed Jodico to open up a 47-42 lead at halftime.

Everything went downhill for Jodico with Sharks clamping down on defence in the third. Sharks were relentless and eerily predicted all of their opponents' moves on offence which triggered 23 unanswered points. Sharks were dominating the boards as Jodico failed to box out and it was only until the final minute of the quarter that the Malay hoopsters managed to get a bucket that saw them end the period with a 5-0 run cutting the deficit to 52-65 going into the final stanza.

Jodico managed to pick up the slack and started to gain back a little momentum after the disastrous quarter. Sharks were missing their shots from the outside but managed to get inside and score on crucial plays not allowing their opponents to come within two possessions.

Sharks continued to haul down the rebounds to wind down the clock that saw them take the win.

"We managed to adjust and concentrate on defence. Our big men stepped up as well with (Elvin) Requintin not available too," said Mordeno, the captain of Sharks, during an interview with The Brunei Times after the victory.

"It is good that we managed to adjust quickly after a bad start but the team played with patience to get the shots to go," he added.

The competition continues today with Jodico taking on Urdan in Group A at 8pm followed by a matchup between Waltique and Hope in Group B at 9.30pm.

The Brunei Times