Inter-company basketball tips off

TOURNAMENT favourites SKS (Syarikat Kejuruteraan Sistematik S/B) survived a hard fought battle to grab an 85-80 victory over IMD (Istana Maintenance Dept) in Group A of the Inter-Company Basketball Tournament yesterday at the Brunei Basketball Association court in Batu Bersurat.

Four players hit double figures for SKS with Rio Oblido leading the way hitting a game-high of 27 points, with 11 coming from the freethrow line, and Cesar Asaldo pouring in 21. Rollin Castillo and Lowey Jee Palma each chipped in 13 and 11 points respectively in the win.

Aries Castro topscored for IMD with 22 points and Elvin Requintin added 21 points in the losing effort.

IMD started the game as the better team with SKS failing to make their shots from range.

SKS, however, kept themselves in the game by being aggressive inside the paint at the offensive end, drawing fouls to earn their points from the charity stripe.

With Requintin manning the paint and putting up a block party, IMD would lead by as much as six points but SKS switched to man-to-man defence to claw within 19-20 heading into the second quarter.

The shooting woes continued for SKS while in contrast IMD were getting good looks at the basket.

It was a physical matchup with the whistle being blown each time someone got under the basket at both ends of the floor.

In a quick turnaround, SKS turned to their fastbreaks and eventually stole the lead at 37-32 by halftime.

The game was slow-paced with neither finding the ability to get the momentum going.

It was frustrating for both sides with the number of fouls being called. Foul trouble was a bigger problem for IMD considering that SKS had a deeper bench as well.

Nonetheless, it remained a two-possession game much of the third stanza with SKS carrying a 56-49 going into the final period.

SKS finally found their shooting touch hitting four consecutive treys to extend their advantage to 70-60.

IMD were working their way and passing to the open man to cut the deficit to 71-72 with three minutes to play. However, a quick timeout by SKS resulted in a 7-0 run that IMD had no answer for to secure the win.

"The players were frustrated with the calls of the referees but I just told them that they couldn't challenge that. I told them not to react and regroup to finish the game," said Rhaul Palma Jr, the head coach of SKS during an interview with The Brunei Times, after the triumph.

"We knew we had to play hard and especially on defence. It was good that we managed to execute after that and I thought we were quite lucky to get the win," he added.

A total of 62 fouls were recorded for the match with 33 of them going against SKS.

In the second match of the day, Don Mordeno powered Ford with a 67-point outburst to defeat PHLS 86-80 in Group B.

The competition continues today with BSRC (Brunei Shell Petroleum S/B) going up against B.Mobile in Group C at 7pm.

The second game pits JCMK (QAF Brunei S/B) against Jati Transport in Group D at 8.30pm.

A total of 20 teams separated into five groups are vying for top honours in the competition which is held in conjunction with Brunei's Labour Day celebrations.

The winners will receive $2,000 together with trophy and medals.

Runners-up will receive $1,500 and third place will bag $1,000.

The tournament is organised by the Labour Department of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA). Present as the guest of honour to open the event yesterday was Dato Paduka Hj Abd Majid Mangarshah, the permanent secretary of MoHA.The Brunei Times