Babes bounce back for bronze

Jeff Paraiso of NBT goes for a
layup against Babes Boutique in their third-place playoff match of the BBA Open Challenge Trophy at the Brunei Basketball Association court in Batu Bersurat last night. Babes Boutique won 97-91. Picture: BT/Yee Chun Leong

Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Friday, April 16, 2010

SQUARING off for the second time in as many nights, the players from
Babes Boutique were looking for a reversal of their fortunes against NBT
at the BBA Open Challenge Trophy. And that is exactly what they got.

While never reaching the intensity of the final the pundits had predicted
before the competition started, there were fireworks in the last quarter
before Babes ran out 97-91 winners in the third-place playoff at the
Brunei Basketball Association court in Batu Bersurat last night.

The two squads had played to a standstill in Wednesday night's overtime
final of Brunei Streetball 2010 between Hope and GILR Wildcats. Hope won that one.

But last night, Josend Mangoroban put together a magnificent shooting effort enroute to a game-high 35 points for Babes.

Three other players were also in double figures for the 2009 Brunei Pepsi Cup champions. Roldan Binas poured in 20 points while Mark del Mundo and Don Mordeno chipped in 16 and 14 respectively.

Geve Leones topscored for NBT with 26 points while Jeff Paraiso contributed 18 points to a losing cause.

The game got off to a slow start with both teams looking exhausted from Wednesday's final.

Babes' defence was not its stifling best, gifting NBT open looks and allowing them to open up a 21-11 lead heading into the second quarter.

Babes were careless on offence while their opponents continued to score
points from the break. Mangoroban was taking matters into his own hands by attacking the rim to keep his team within shouting distance. Read More...

Source: The Brunei Times