Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
HUI HUANG Enterprise got their YOU.C1000 Fuzhou Cup campaign off to a winning start after an 81-54 victory over Hainan Association in Group B last night.
Made up largely of players from the FZ-Juramas side that won Phase 1 of the YOU.C1000 Cup last month, Francis Barcellano produced a game-high of 20 points to pace Hui Huang despite sitting out the entire third quarter.
Kevin Tay was the other in double figures with 19 points, which included five treys, in the victory at the Fuzhou Shiyyi Association building in Berakas.
On the other hand, Danial Ong topscored for Hainan with 14 points while Yap Zi Quan contributed 10 to a losing effort.
The opening period was closely contested as it never got further than a two-possession game.
Hainan grabbed the lead after a basket by Herculanus Ong late on but Hui Huang responded with a layup courtesy of Han Ming Kwang to ensure that they stay in front 19-18 going into the second quarter.
The game turned in the favour of Hui Huang as they outscored their opponents 25-6 in the second frame.
Hui Huang were up 27-20 midway through and Hainan resorted to giving their starters a breather as they struggled to find the basket.
Hui Huang picked up at the defensive end to score on the break. They could have gotten a much larger lead if not for their turnovers but the lead still ballooned to 44-24 at halftime.
Hainan only managed to close the gap to as close as 15 points in the third stanza despite Barcellano sitting on the bench.
Tay had the hot hands with four three-pointers in the period as Hui Huang went on to pick up a comfortable victory.
The second game saw BruPay defeat Good Home 74-57 in the same group.
Ahmad Termizi Hj Noordeen notched a game-high of 29 points - 15 of them in the second period - to lead BruPay.
Jake Chong contributed 20 points while Kenny Lim added 14 in the victory.
On the other side, Norman Freires topscored for Good Home with 16 points.
The duo of Mario Pahimutang Jr and Casey Alvar were also in double figures with 12 in a losing effort.
The tournament resumes tonight with Bandar Estates taking on Kedaiku in Group A at 7.15pm.
The second game will see TM Basketball and Beta Kitchen go head-to-head at 8.45pm in Group B.
