Taking down Agogo the Easyway

A GAME-HIGH 23 points from Benjamin Sim helped Easyway to a 82-48 win over Agogo Saloon in their Aewon Cup 2011 Basketball Championship Tournament opener last night.

The dominant forward also grabbed 11 rebounds and dished five assists at the Brunei Basketball Association court in Batu Bersurat, where the team made up of national cagers shared the scoring load.

Muhd Zainul Ashyraf Hj Hussin had 12 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks while three players Tony Bong Chun Fatt, Po Yung Hui and Choo Yung Jian scored 10 points each .

Soon Kian Leong added 11 rebounds and Choo highlighted his effectiveness on both ends of the court by ending the game with eight assists and steals.

Hj Muhd Rahmad Hj Suhaili led Agogo in scoring with 15 points, followed by Ahmad Termizi Hj Noordeen with seven and Nicholas Ho and Hj Md Badri Hj Md Suhaili with six each.

Agogo's second loss in as many games, the result has dented their chances of reaching the quarter-finals.

Using the tournament to prepare for next week's 13th Borneo City Men's Basketball Invitational Tournament 2011 in Kota Kinabalu, Kevin Reece felt that Easyway could have played better.

"We had a slow start and didn't really get warmed up," said the national coach, referring to their 13-8 lead at the end of the first stanza.

"We played hard but the finishing is not there at the moment. Every lay-up is important.

"But the goal was to keep them (Agogo) to less than 50 points and we did that. This was our first game of the tournament and it is essential that the new guys in the team like Han Ming Kwang and Kevin Tay get a feel for what we do," added the American.

Rotating the ball well and moving off it even better, Easyway were able to open up a 36-18 lead by halftime.

Easyway's intensity on defence was just as ferocious, but their opponents many of whom used to train under Reece just couldn't measure up on quality man for man.

Running the plays for his side, Ahmad Termizi probably tried to do too much and could have been more effective had he got his teammates actively involved on offence.

Their lack of communication also contributed to the loss, and when Muhd Zainul opened up a 20-point lead (38-18) a minute into the third quarter, it was always going to be an uphill struggle for Agogo.

Easyway were the more physical of the two sides, and with Sim and Muhd Zainul controlling the boards, Agogo found second-chance points hard to come by.

Though Agogo outscored Easyway 17-15 in the third quarter, which ended 51-35, the nationals were able to put their experience to good use in the fourth stanza.

Tightening the screws on defence and shifting gears on offence, Easyway carved open a 30-point lead (72-41) mid-way through the period after forcing Agogo to commit turnovers.

Easyway's strong performance in the lop-sided final quarter, where they outscored Agogo 31-13, sealed the win.

The night's second game saw Aziz Latif Company pick up their second win in as many games after beating Giap's Nephews 92-68.

They started their campaign on a high after cruising past Boy Menglait 101-51 on Tuesday.

Kenview Enterprise face MK Syarikat Jazmar in tonight's first game at 7pm while the match at 8:30 pits Jedstar against Bukit Ladang.

The Brunei Times