Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
ESMOND Tan hit the game-winner with one second left on the clock to lift Juramas to an 89-87 stunning victory over Rotary to bag the Toolbox Cup of the Low San Open basketball tournament today.
The game looked set for overtime after Han Ming Kwang scored from the baseline off an offensive rebound to tie the scores at the BBA court in Batu Bersurat before the heroics of Tan.
Juramas took a timeout and the 33-year-old finished off an inbound alley-oop from Benjamin Lim to land Juramas the title - a match which spanned past 12.30am after an earlier power outage resulted in delays.
Esmond Tan added another trophy to his cabinet after his heroics against Rotary in the final of the Low San Open basketball tournament. Picture: Yee Chun Leong
Tan, who finished with 35 points which included nine three-pointers, felt good after the release of the shot.
“We had the same play in a previous game when we were leading by two against (El-)Bombazo (Boycour) when they played man defence. There is kind of a connection already between me and Ah Boy (Lim),” explained Tan after the triumph.
“It was a 50-50 ball and I know that our shot clock is by the second and not millisecond. Once I got the ball, it is a quick release and it went in,” he added.
Alvin Goh added 20 points for Juramas while Voon Yiew Ting was the other in double figures for Juramas with 11 points to his name.
On the other hand, Apollo Bibat topscored for Rotary with 21 points. He played almost the entire 40 minutes and this is after having contested in the veteran category final.
Eliseo contributed 16 points while Roldan Binas added 14 points. Elvin Requintin and Allen Salvador chipped in 11 and 10 points respectively in a losing effort.
Apollo Bibat (2nd R) of Rotary played for Digimark in the final of the veteran category. Picture: Yee Chun Leong
Rotary came out storming and quickly jumped out to a double digit lead.
They led by as many as 14 points in the opening period before Juramas cut the deficit down to 24-14 going into the second quarter.
Juramas stepped up at the defensive end in the second period to close the gap on their opponents.
Tan banked home a straight on trey at the buzzer to get Juramas to within 40-38 of Rotary at halftime.
Rotary dominated the boards with Bibat being the workhorse to get his team second chance points.
They put up a strong run by hitting the break to end the third period to go back up 66-55 going into the final frame.
Benjamin Lim (C) of Juramas drives to the basket against Rotary. Picture: Yee Chun Leong
Alvin Goh (L) put up 20 points for Juramas in the victory. Picture: Yee Chun Leong
Juramas started the fourth quarter with strong defensive pressure in the backcourt to force turnovers off their opponents.
They went in front for the first time since the opening seconds of the match after a three-pointer by Tan to make it 69-68 with seven minutes left.
Rotary were left with a small rotation after Binas fouled out midway through the period and Salvador followed him with over two minutes left.
However, Rotary regained the lead just moments later with Abling knocking down a 15-foot jumper to make it 83-82.
They made it a three-point game after Eliseo connected on two free-throws with a minute left.
Juramas got to within one after points from the stripe and Tan got them back in front with a trey with 11 seconds left to make it 87-85.
Rotary took a time out and Eliseo went for the winner but rimmed out.
Bibat got the offensive board but couldn't connect on a tough shot. Han then grabbed the second offensive rebound for the putback before the Tan's heroics at the other end to settle the tie.
Meanwhile, Digimark claimed the Veteran’s Low San Shield after defeating Goh Hock Kee 72-60.
Mum Bakery bagged the Women’s Sherwin Williams Cup after crushing Berrywan 112-72.
Mum Bakery were the winners of the Sherwin Williams Cup. PIcture: Yee Chun Leong
