Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
FUZHOU Shiyyi Association were made to work harder than they should for a 116-102 victory over Teo & Sons last night to advance into the final of the YOU.C1000 Cup.
Josh White (featured pic) topscored for Fuzhou with 36 points while Lim Liang Wei added 26 points to his name.
Mike Fey poured in 19 points while Kevin Tay was the other in double figures with 15 points, all coming from three-point territory, in the victory at the BBA court in Batu Bersurat.
On the other hand, Freddie Goldstein produced a game-high of 51 points, notching double figures in each quarter, for Teo & Sons in the defeat.
Jeff Paraiso and Joey Dela Pena were also in doube figures with 17 and 10 points respectively to a losing cause.
Freddie Goldstein (C) scored 51 points but it was not enough to lead his team to the final. Picture: Yee Chun Leong
It was a closely contested affair in the early going before Teo & Sons import Rashad Ali was tossed from the game with four minutes left in the opening period for his second technical foul of the game.
The tides turned in favour of Fuzhou as they rained down from beyond the arc with nine three-pointers to open up a 43-21 lead going into the second quarter.
Fuzhou continued to dominate and led 50-25 after a trey by White just two minutes into the second frame.
Goldstein was his usual self working his way to the hoop to score in hopes of keeping his side in the contest.
Things got physical and Fey was whistled for a technical foul for retaliating against Binas midway through the stanza after a hard foul by the latter on the 7-footer.
Roldan Binas (R) takes a shot against Darrel Dela Cruz. Picture: Yee Chun Leong
Fuzhou lost their focus and turned the ball over several times to allow Teo & Sons to close to within 69-50 at halftime.
Teo & Sons came out strongly after the interval and quickly cut the gap to 11 points just two minutes in.
To make matters worse, Fey was also ejected from the game after he shoved Paraiso to the ground for his second technical foul midway through.
It was a tense and heated affair but Teo & Sons never really threatened to close in on their opponents.
On the bright side, Mike Fey (R) would be better rested ahead of the final after getting ejected midway through the third quarter. Picture: Yee Chun Leong
Lim made a big impact for Fuzhou late in the third period to finish with 13 points in the frame as he got to work down the paint to score.
Fuzhou hit the century mark just before the end of the third period with White capitalising on an error on the inbounds pass to see them go ahead 101-76 heading into the final period.
There was simply no way back for Teo & Sons as Fuzhou just ensured they held on to the ball for every possession to run the clock enroute to victory.
Fuzhou will meet YTE in the final and it is scheduled for 8.45pm right after the third-place playoff between Easyway and Teo & Sons.
