7-man Plaza Sutera Biru overwhelm Babes Boutique

Esmond Tan drives to the hoop
against Babes Boutique last night in their semi-final match in Batu
Bersurat.Picture: BT/Maui Salazar

Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
Wednesday, April 14, 2010

PLAZA SUTERA BIRU once again proved that quality is better than quantity
last night in their semi-final of the BBA Open Challenge Trophy.

With only seven players suited up, they eeked out a 94-88 upset win over Babes Boutique at the Brunei Basketball Association (BBA) court in Batu Bersurat. Thye now have a date with the Ilonggo Stingers in the final.

Former vice-captain of the Barracudas, Esmond Tan, led Plaza Sutera Biru with 35 points while Fong Yeh Leong poured in 16.

Don Mordeno tallied agame-high 41 points for Babes Boutique while Josend Mangoroban and Mark Del Mundo chipped in 18 and 16 points respectively in a losing effort.

Plaza Sutera Biru came out strong on the back of some tenacious defence. Babes Boutique were limited in their running game and were forced to take outside shots which gifted Plaza Sutera Biru fastbreak points from easy defensive rebounds. Fong had the hot hand early on, nailing three treys in the opening period as his team opened up a 24-14 advantage going into the second quarter.

Babes Boutique were playing man-to-man defence but Plaza Sutera Biru countered with isolation plays in the paint through their big men. The 2009 Brunei Pepsi Cup Champions failed to put a body on the Plaza Sutera Biru players on most occasions, who penetrated the porous defence for easy layups to stay ahead 48-38 at halftime. Read More...

Source: The Brunei Times