Plaza Sutera Biru down Urban Chic Boutique

Plaza Sutera Biru's Yam Wan Fung (L) going for a rebound as Urban Chic Boutique's On Chee Chew (C) and Lim Yih Yuan watch helplessly during their BBA Open Challenge Trophy match at the BBA basketball court in Batu Bersurat last night. Picture: BT/Saifulizam

Jason Thomas
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

PLAZA Sutera Biru's dominance inside the paint paved the way for a 65-40 win against Urban Chic Boutique in last night's Brunei Basketball Association (BBA) Open Challenge Trophy action.

Bouncing back from their 80-63 loss to NBT on the opening day last Saturday, Plaza Sutera Biru's size and experience down the stretch handed Urban Chic Boutique a loss in their first Group A game.

Though Plaza Sutera Biru had three Barracudas' players in their line-up — Esmond Tan, Ho Hee Lee and Lim Aik Hock — it was Leslie Chia who stole the show with 15 points — the game's top scorer drilling in nine of them from downtown.

Plaza Sutera Biru had three other players in double figures at the BBA court in Batu Bersurat, Jong Guo Zheng adding 12 while Ho and Yam Wan Fung each contributed 10.

Urban Chic Boutique's captain On Chee Chew led by example with 11 points, with Fong Ben Onn the team's second best scorer with nine points.

Refusing to pick out any one player for individual praise, Tan insisted the win was a result of the whole team clicking on both sides of the court.

"We were just trying to work out our strategy and focus on our plays," explained the small-forward.

"We were also trying out the rotation of our players because a few of us won't be available on April 11 when we play our last game (against Teik Goldsmith).

"Our next game (against Shark Team) on Wednesday will be a must win for us if we want to reach the next round," added the vice-captain of the Barracudas last season.

It was a close game in the opening minutes and both teams found it hard to break through, with the towering Yam helping Plaza Sutera Biru to a 2-0 lead after three minutes.

Urban Chic Boutique netted the next three points but they could do nothing when Tan coordinated a 12-0 run in the next few minutes to help Plaza Sutera Biru carve a 14-3 lead in the final two minutes.

Plaza Sutera Biru started the second quarter with a 17-8 advantage but it was a lead which they weren't able to build on.

Urban Chic Boutique might not have been able to penetrate as much as they would have liked but their quick passing gave their opponents a hard time, with Plaza Sutera Biru only leading 21-13 mid-way through the quarter. Read More...

Source: The Brunei Times