Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
EASYWAY romped to the second largest ever win margin in the history of the Sultan’s Cup with a 152-35 demolition of CK & Associates in the MK Group Cup last night.
They almost bettered the previous margin which they set (playing under Soon Lee-Easyway) back in April 2010 where they thrashed Ford 162-42 in the group stage.
The victory completes a sweep of Group A going into the quarter-finals on Saturday, where they will face Hainan at 7.15pm, at the BBA court in Batu Bersurat.
Justin Howard was sharing the ball and tallied six assists. Picture: Yee Chun Leong
American import Justin Howard posted another monster double-double for Easyway with 36 points and 27 rebounds.
Their other import Avery Scharer was one rebound shy of a triple double with 25 points and 10 assists to his name.
Marcus Quirk and Ben Sim added 21 points each while the big men also got things done with Md Zainul Ashyraf Hj Hussin and Francis Barcellano chipping in14 and 13 points respectively to go with their haul of 11 rebounds each.
Easyway also shot 60 percent from the field hitting 68 of 113 attempts.
It was one way traffic right from the beginning with Easyway opening up a 41-6 lead going into the second quarter.
The two-time defending champions hit the 100-point mark with over three minutes to go in the third period and were on course to set the largest ever win margin.
However, Kel Hung was fouled with a no call on his layup attempt with 10 seconds left in the match with the scoreboard reading 152-33 at that point.
In turn, Yeo Chee Hao knocked down a jumper moments before time expired at the other end.
Francis Barcellano (L) goes for a shot. Picture: Yee Chun Leong
Easyway never really got a test throughout the five-team group stage and assistant coach Lim Kok Shien felt that it might pose a problem.
“At the moment we still feel that we are not playing at that kind of intensity that we want. Street Roc gave us some feel but the actual game will start in the semis,” said Lim in an interview with BruSports News after the triumph.
“The game might be the same against Hainan in the quarters. But we will try to practise our drills and hopefully will gel better defensively.
“That is something difficult and maybe it would have been better for us to be in Group B,” he added.
Marcus Quirk in action. Picture: Yee Chun Leong
The competition will resume tomorrow with the All-Star Game and Easyway have got eight players selected for the match.
Easyway coach Xavier Fong together with Lim will also be leading the selected side.
When asked on having so many players contesting, Lim replied: “At this moment that is not what we are looking for.
“But we try to play with caution, have fun and more importantly not to penetrate too much but instead run off screens and shoot the ball,” he added.
"The advantage is that we still have control and we can give opportunities to the other players well," concluded Lim.
Quarter-finals Fixtures
Saturday, July 29
7.15pm: Easyway vs Hainan
8.45pm: Em Prez vs YTE Morsjaya
Sunday, July 30
7.15pm: Juramas vs CK & Associates
8.45pm: Walltique vs Street Roc
