Defence best offence for Liga.
WATER tight defence by Liga Bumiputera paved the way for their first victory in Group B with a 92-68 demolition of winless Menglait All-Star in the regular seven stars category of the LBC Cup at the Brunei Basketball Association court in Batu Bersurat yesterday.
Hj Md Rahmat Hj Suhaili and Jamri Ramlee each poured in 21 points for Liga Bumiputera.
On the other hand, Jonjon David topscored for Menglait All-Star with 20 points and Allan Talanay chipped in 16 points to a losing cause.
Liga Bumiputera came out storming in the opening period with full court man-to-man pressure defence sensing the lack of a point guard and depth in their opponents' bench. Menglait All-Star were unable to press break as the all-Malay team opened up a 23-8 lead going into the second quarter.
It was the same story in the second period as Liga Bumiputera continued on their defence not allowing their opponents any easy points and using their height advantage to haul down the rebounds. They further extended their lead to 45-26 going into halftime.
Menglait All-Star looked resurgent in the third period as their opponents' defence seemed to have tire down as they went on fastbreaks.
Liga Bumiputera were trying to push the ball up the court quickly but failed on several occasions resulting in turnovers which allowed their opponents to slowly creep back into the game.
Liga Bumiputera seemed to have lost their composure as they weren't playing their usual transition basketball passing the ball to the open man late in the third period but still stayed in the driving seat up 64-49 going into the final stanza.
Despite playing with four fouls in the last quarter, Jamri lifted the team on offence by penetrating to the hoop to keep the momentum.
The game was over midway through the period with the scoreboard reading 76-58 as Liga Bumiputera ran away for the blowout victory.
"I'm very satisfied and proud with how the team played today (Sunday). Training really paid off as everyone stepped up despite some coming down with injuries but they still played with a lot of heart," said Hj Md Sofrian Hj Md Yusof, the coach of Liga Bumiputera.
"We came out in the game and did what we were supposed to do which was to put pressure on the ball. The senior players (Hj Md Rahmat and Jamri) really showed great leadership," said Hj Md Sofrian on their key to victory.
"But we give credit to our opponents they put up a good fight," added the Liga Bumiputera coach.
In the second game, Beaver Engineering notched up their third straight victory with an 81-77 win over Morley Movers in Group B. 
Meanwhile, in the 45 years old and above category Young Once defeated MK Super Kids 65-60.
The tournament continues on Thursday with AKK Design taking on Nueva Ecija Patriot and Warriors going up against El Tigre Marshalls.
Source: The Brunei Times | photos: BruneiBasketball.com
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