Barracudas back at office
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
It was their first training session after the 70-56 loss to the Philippine Patriots in their Asean Basketball League (ABL) match at the Ynares Sports Arena in Manila on Dec 21.
Brunei's first professional basketball team are now in fifth place in the six-team ABL standings holding identical 4-6 win-loss record as the KL Dragons and fighting for a slot in the playoffs. Only the top four teams advance to the playoffs which will start on Jan 30.
Francis "Kiko" Adriano, the captain of the Barracudas, feels that the team could have been in a better position in the standings.
"The previous match (against the Patriots) was a must win game. Victory in Manila would definitely be a major boost for the team," said Adriano in an interview with The Brunei Times yesterday.
"Victory would also place us in fourth tied with the Thailand Tigers but we are dealing with it and putting the loss behind us," added Adriano.
On what needed to be improved, the 34-year-old Filipino said: "There's always room for improvement, but most importantly we just have to make sure that everyone is not complacent after the break. We will just have to keep practicing and try to win the rest of our games for a run to the playoffs." Read More...
Source: The Brunei Times Read more...
IN this football-crazed country, basketball is usually not the first choice for many Malays. But Md Jamri Ramlee proved that Malays too can play ball after leading Easyway Delima to the Under-18 crown of the Basketball Youth Cup on Saturday when they beat favourites HHY 70-62 at the Brunei Basketball Association court in Batu Bersurat. 
The last time the two sides met, White Haven also came out on top 70-54 in the Belait District Basketball Association Under-23 tournament in October. 
IT was back to back championships for White Haven after they defeated Easyway Qlap 94-75 last night in the final of the Under-23 category of the Basketball Youth Cup at the Brunei Basketball Association (BBA) court in Batu Bersurat. 
Goh and Tony Bong, who scored 13 and eight points respectively for the opening quarter, were up to the task bringing White Haven back from the deficit and eventually grabbing the lead at 23-21 going into the second quarter. 
Majomar Aying, who scored 14 of his 18 points in the second period, then caught fire draining his three-pointers and was penetrating to the hoop with his quick dribbling. 
Easyway Qlap's Bong caught fire, scoring eight straight points, as he delivered from three-point range to lead an 11-2 run bringing the score to 59-61 with a minute to go in the third quarter. 
"I would say that it was our teamwork that helped us win the game. The local players on the team also stepped up to match our opponents. That was key in the match," said Kenny Ching. the assistant coach of White Haven, in an interview with The Brunei Times after the championship match. 
A STRONG defensive performance helped Easyway Delima banish memories of defeat a week ago by beating HHY 70-62 in the championship match of the Under-18 category of the Basketball Youth Cup at the Brunei Basketball Association (BBA) court in Batu Bersurat last night. 
Both teams were neck and neck right from the start as they exchanged baskets throughout the opening period. Neither team could stick out in front and they were tied at 12 apiece heading into the second quarter. 
Sports fans in Brunei have been treated to probably the best basketball year with the emergence of the Barracudas in the Asean Basketball League (ABL) earlier this year and also the appointment of a new basketball coach, Kevin Reece, to end the year. 
HHY had handed Easyway Delima their only defeat in the tournament with a 77-69 triumph in the second round last Saturday. 
Both teams got off to a slow start with the scoreboard reading 6-2 in favour of Easyway Bunut. 
A BATTLE between two unbeaten teams in the Under-18 category of the Basketball Youth Cup saw HHY pull off a 77-69 victory over Easyway Delima in the second round of Group A at the Brunei Basketball Association court in Batu Bersurat last night. 
The Patriots welcomed back Nonoy Baclao, who led Ateneo to the Philippine Collegiate Champions League crown over Far Eastern University last weekend, and Elmer Espiritu, who suffered a broken cheek bone two weeks ago but played with a face guard on. 
POXIO RE-MIX handed Knights their first defeat in the Under-18 category of the Basketball Youth Cup with an 83-73 triumph at the Brunei Basketball Association court in Batu Bersurat last night. 
With the unexpected performance of Turistas, D’ Café was stunned. Though they are playing with the complete line up, they cannot simple take a huge lead. “We underestimate their incomplete line-up and for sure we will take it seriously in the next half”, Alex Barawed uttered, who only made 11 pts in the first half. 
In the beginning of the second half, both teams wanted to establish a commanding lead. Nobody wanted to give up. With no alternate players, exhausted Turistas slowly went behind shot by shot as the D’ Café’s Rj Buenaventura started to pour three pointers and perimeter shots. Even the Chinese player Andrew Jong made a huge 3 point to add more excitement to the game. With the D’ Café’s commanding lead of 22 points before reaching the final 4 minutes of the last half, they still continue their line of defense. Turistas fought back in the last two minutes and though they managed to narrow down the lead they still came up 8 points short. Acknowledging their defeat they finished the game and promised to make the series to be even on Sunday. 
D’ Café finished the game with the score 85-77. Rj Buenaventura poured 32pts to secure their first win. Alex Barawed with 22pts, Mike with 16 pts, Wyclef, Mahlon Campos and Aj helping with 8, 4, & 3 points respectively. 
THE Singapore Slingers ended their three-game losing skid with a 69-66 comeback victory over the Thailand Tigers in their Asean Basketball League (ABL) match at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore last night. 
EASYWAY BUNUT cruised to an 88-59 victory over SKK in Group A action to advance to the semi-finals of the Under-23 category of the Basketball Youth Cup at the Brunei Basketball Association court in Batu Bersurat last night. 
Hey Hoops Fans out there in Brunei Darussalam! Recently, I got an email from Mario Nishihara the Event Coordinator of Greater Cleveland Sports Commission. I'm posting an excerpt of his email and I thought you guys might be interested to join. 
The Brunei Barracudas beat the Patriots 95-70 at the Indoor Stadium of the Hassanal Bolkiah National Sports Complex in Berakas to pick up their first back-to-back win in the league, and they now sit fourth in the six-team table. 
It is also a historic win as this is the first time that the Sultanate has beaten the Philippines the region's powerhouse in the sport. 
The American duo of Mike Pilgrim and Reggie Larry each had game-highs of 20 points while Don Camaso and Leo Avenido contributed 18 points each. Captain Francis 'Kiko' Adriano chipped in 13 points. 
The Barracudas got off to a blistering start, playing good defence to come up with various defensive stops and open up a nine-point lead at 13-4 in the opening minutes of the game. 
Brunei's first professional basketball team were made to worry after Pilgrim suffered a left shoulder injury towards the end of the first period keeping him from starting the second stanza. 
With 5 minutes left in the third quarter, the Brunei Barracudas picked up the pace, and improved their game to take a 9-point lead against the Patriots. The Barracudas ended the third quarter with an 8-point lead, ending 67 – 59 against the Patriots. 
EASYWAY QLAP notched up a 69-56 victory over Pyrogen last night to sweep Group B of the Under-23 category of the Basketball Youth Cup at the Brunei Basketball Association court in Batu Bersurat. 
SELANGAN ended their campaign on a high note with an 88-54 thrashing of SOON in Group A of the Under-23 category of the Basketball Youth Cup at the Brunei Basketball Association court in Batu Bersurat last night. 
MIKE PILGRIM was under the weather on Wednesday. But not even a fever could stop him from putting on one of his best performances for the Barracudas in their 80-63 victory over the KL Dragons on Wednesday night in their Asean Basketball League (ABL) match at the Indoor Stadium of the Hassanal Bolkiah National Sports Complex in Berakas. 
HHY put on a strong showing in the second half to come out on top 72-56 against Phil's Trading in Group C of the Under-18 category in the Basketball Youth Cup at the Brunei Basketball Association court in Batu Bersurat last night. 
Brunei Barracudas started the match with imports Michael Pilgrim, Reggie Larry, Francis Adriano, Leonidaz Avenido, and local player Esmond Tan. KL Dragons fielded Jamal Brown, Roel Hugnatan, Fhadzmir Bandaying, Rudy Lingganay and Chris Kuete as their starting lineup. 
It was the same in the second quarter, with both teams pushing hard, and the Barracudas managed to sustain their 3 point lead, ending 45 – 42 against the KL Dragons at halftime. Brunei Barracudas’ Michael Pilgrim and Reggie Larry lead the team with 12 points each, whereas KL Dragons’ Chris Kuete had 19 personal points and 9 rebounds.
With 5 minutes left on the clock, the Barracudas surged forward and lead the KL Dragons by 12 points, and continued to add another 4 points to their lead with 2 minutes to go on the clock. At the final buzzer, the Brunei Barracudas took the match with a 17 point lead, ending the match 80 – 63. 
KL Dragons will be feeling the pinch of today’s loss, especially after winning the match against top seeded Singapore Slingers on 22 November. 
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