Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
FZ-JURAMAS switched gears in the second half to defeat Setia Builders 114-76 in the Phase 2 opener of the YOU.C1000 Cup last night.
The Phase 1 champions had distributed scoring with five players in double figures including all three of their import players.
The duo of Mark Acosta and Michael Parala had matching game-highs of 24 points while the pair of Allan Mangahas and Francis Barcellano contributed 19 points each.
Alvin Goh was the other in double figures with 16 points to his name in the win at the BBA court in Batu Bersurat.
On the other hand, Dela Pena topscored for Setia Builders with 14 points while Voon Yiew Ting added 13.
John Tang was also in double digit scoring with 12 points while David Hidalgo chipped in 10 to a losing effort.
FZ-Juramas got off to a slow start to trail their Setia Builders 28-25 at the end of the first quarter.
It remained a closely contested encounter despite FZ-Juramas turning it around to take the lead at 51-48 at halftime.
It was in the third period that FZ-Juramas ran away after outscoring their opponents 30-18 to open up a double digit lead.
Acosta was a big factor putting up 16 points on the board in the frame including three triples to tilt the game in their favour.
FZ-Juramas captain Esmond Tan felt that the team just require more time to settle down completely.
“We were still trying to adjust to each other and find out the strengths. We eventually managed to settle down in the second half to extend our lead,” said Esmond in an interview with BruSports News after the victory.
“So far I can say we are adjusting well but of course it will take time as we will have to wait till we get a full team,” he added.
The second game saw YTE cruise to a 111-70 win over Systematic Living.
The competition continues today with Easyway taking on Systematic Living at 7.15pm.
The second game pits YTE against FZ-Juramas at 9pm.
