Ak Fauzi Pg Salleh
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
A STRONG defensive performance in the final quarter helped Little Wonder Enterprise edge Fitness Zone 65-63 in the semi-final of the GRÂND Veteran Basketball Tournament last night.
Lim Fung bagged a team-high of 15 points to send Little Wonder into the final on Wednesday, where they will face Digimark after they beat Concepts 3B/3G 108-91 in the other last-four match.
Chen Yiok Seng also got into double figures with 13 points, while Ang Han Then and Tony Tan added 11 and 10 points respectively.
Little Wonder Enterprise (white) and Fitness Zone players in action. Picture: Ak Fauzi Pg Salleh
Little Wonder stayed disciplined in the decisive frame to obtain a morale-boosting win and their coach Xavier Fong credited his charges for the showing.
"We played good defence to hold our opponents tonight (Sunday night), especially in the second half," Fong told BruSports after the match.
"It was hard to penetrate their (Fitness Zone) defence and I also think that we need to improve more on our attack.
"We only managed to lead in the last quarter of the game and it was only by one to two points… we are lucky that Lim Fung played very well tonight with his three point shots and that helped us to win the game.
"Fitness Zone are a very good team, they got three Filipino players, it was very hard to score against them, so I would like to credit my players for the victory," added the coach.
Ronald Arabia of Fitness Zone drives to the basket against Little Wonder. Picture: Ak Fauzi Pg Salleh
R Garcia of Fitness Zone with the ball against Little Wonder. Picture: Ak Fauzi Pg Salleh
The Filipino trio got onto double figure for Fitness Zone with Ronald Arabia bagging a game-high of 17 points while, R. Garcia and Jose Villaflores combined for a total score of 24 points for the team.
Little Wonder were behind most of the match before a big fourth quarter to outscore their opponents 22-14 to claim the victory at the Brunei Basketball Association (BBA) court in Batu Bersurat.
Ho Poh San, who got 12 points to his name, tried to inspire a comeback late in the game for Fitness Zone with a couple of three pointers, but Little Wonder would hold on to the lead with their excellent defence.
The competition continues tomorrow with the third-place playoffs for both the Veteran and Women Open Tournaments starting at 7pm.
