Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
TM BASKETBALL romped to their second win in three games after stunning Hui Huang Enterprise 96-78 in Group B of the YOU.C1000 Fuzhou Cup last night.
It was a tale of two halves as TM Basketball shrugged off a slow start and turned things around after the interval at the Fuzhou Shiyyi Association court in Berakas.
The young duo of Ralph Borja and Jan Salazar came up big for TM Basketball with 21 points each.
Centre Ronnie Vinluan contributed 15 points while Ware Magallano was the other in double figures with 11 in the triumph.
On the other side, Hui Huang only had seven players available for the game - missing the services of key players Esmond Tan and Francis Barcellano.
Kevin Tay had a game-high of 28 points to lead Hui Huang while Benjamin Lim added 14.
Yap Chun Ping was the other in double digit scoring with 11 to a losing cause.
Despite being short handed for the matchup, Hui Huang still managed to open up a double figure advantage as they led 43-33 at halftime.
TM Basketball turned things in their favour by playing at a faster pace resulting in easy baskets on the break.
They also dominated the boards to score on second opportunities to close the gap.
The game was tied at 57 apiece after a three-pointer by Borja with under three minutes to play in the frame.
They went in front for the first time after Chua Boon Hui split his freethrows with 1:15 left in the third quarter to make it 60-59.
Hui Huang just simply couldn’t get anything going at the offensive end.
TM Basketball took their chances and opened up a double digit lead with under seven minutes left to play after Salazar completed a three-point play to make it 76-64.
They got into the penalty situation early but Hui Huang failed to capitalise after missing a handful from the charity stripe.
Nothing fell for Hui Huang and TM Basketball took charge to extend their lead to 86-68 midway through the period enroute to victory.
Meanwhile, the second game saw BruPay make it three wins out of three after a 71-55 victory over Walltique in the same group.
The competition resumes today with TK Tea House taking on Kedaiku in Group A at 7.15pm.
Superfish and THEvent.Co will battle in the second tip off at 8.45pm.
