Catty victory for Wan Sing

WAN SING stretched their winning streak to three after escaping with a controversial 77-75 victory over the GILR Wildcats last night in Group C of the 4th Manjaro Cup at the Brunei Basketball Association court in Batu Bersurat.

Danny Felicilda had the hot hands pouring in a game-high 25 points to lift Wan Sing to victory.

Marjomar Aying added 16 points and Allan Caringal contributed 15 points in the triumph.

Four players hit double figures for the Wildcats in the losing effort.

Ronnel Sugnan led the way with 18 points and Rommel Valmores added 11 points. Mike Agripa and Centino each had 10 points in the loss.

"I just tried my best despite not getting much practice. I just felt good shooting the ball," said Felicilda, during an interview with The Brunei Times, after the win.

The Wildcats were on the backfoot throughout much of the game and finally grabbed the lead from their opponents 55-54 courtesy of a three-pointer by Manalansan to open the fourth quarter.

The high octane match was very physical with players throwing their bodies, hustling for loose balls.

It was neck and neck with both sides exchanging baskets but the Wildcats remained in front 64-63 midway through the final stanza.

The highly competitive game went down to the wire, the scoreboard reading 66-66 with just three minutes left to play.

Wan Sing delivered with good defence and held their opponents without a field goal for more than two minutes before Anthony Bonavente hit a trey for the Wildcats with 43 seconds to go bringing the scores to 71-75.

However, the ensuing basket saw an unmarked Felicilda score on the other end.

The Wildcats did make it a two-point game with five seconds left but the clock ran out before the Wildcats had even put the ball in play, gifting the controversial victory to Wan Sing.

"It was an exciting seesaw battle but I'm still happy with my players. However, the refereeing was questionable and we don't blame them for the calls as they aren't able to catch every single one. But it was disappointing," said Rey Macaspac, the head coach of Wan Sing, after the match.

"This is an important win for us as now we are confirmed a slot into the next round and I'll have to credit everyone on the team for contributing to the win," he added.

Macaspac's counterpart, Robert Rubillar, the playing coach of the Wildcats, felt the same way about the officiating last night.

"It was a tough loss for us. The calls just weren't going our way with the way the referees were handling the match," said Rubillar.

The scores for the second game between Hua Ho Bunut and Kayumanggi was not known as of press time.

The competition continues tomorrow with Suci going up against Dermaline Beauty Therapy (Dermalogica) in Group A at 8.30pm. The second game pits Hua Ho Yayasan against Jed Star in the same group at 10pm.

The Brunei Times