Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
A SHORT-HANDED Pegasus succumbed to a 93-59 defeat at the hands of Indonesia’s BBM CLS Knights in the Thailand Basketball Super League (TBSL) today.
Filipino import Roider Cabrera had the hot hands for Pegasus with a game-high of 33 points - with 27 of them coming in the first half.
Pavle Cevtinovic was the only other player in double figures with 10 points in what was their fifth defeat.
On the other hand, Alfred Mandani led the way for the Knights with 25 points and Murphy Burnatowski added 17 points.
Ikram Fadhil also had a good game for the Indonesian side with his double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Pegasus only had eight players present for the matchup, which included founder Samuel Jong making his playing debut.
They were missing the likes of captain Darren Yap, Ahmad Termizi Hj Noordeen, Lim Liang Wei and Kel Hung, who had departed the club to join the Makabayan Warriors.
Pegasus got off to a slow start as the Knights jumped out to a nine-point lead just two minutes into the game at the Nimibutr Stadium in Bangkok.
A quick timeout saw them regroup and they stayed within touching distance.
Cabrera knocked down a turnaround trey just before the end of the opening quarter to help get Pegasus within 29-18 going into the second period.
Pegasus started the second quarter with an 11-0 run thanks to Cabrera after he knocked down three straight three-pointers before a basket by Cevtenovic to see the game tied with just over two minutes elapsed.
It remained a one possession game most of the way with Mandani doing the damage for the Knights to see them lead 46-44 at halftime.
However, that was only as close as things got as the Knights ran away in the third period after outscoring Pegasus 19-6 in the 10-minute frame.
Pegasus simply looked depleted and they couldn’t stay in the game as they were limited to only 15 second half points.
The biggest difference is that the Knights controlled the boards with a 68-29 advantage and outscored the Brunei side 58-12 in the paint.
“There was the willingness and we were eager to win the game,” said Cabrera in an interview with BruSports News after the game when contacted.
“We kept the game close at the half but due to the lack of players we just got tired as we didn’t have time to rest,” added the Filipino, who played the entire 40 minutes.
Pegasus will next face the Zno Eagles, who are also in search of their first win, tomorrow and Cabrera is looking forward to the encounter.
“Tomorrow (Sunday) is going to be a big game for us. We will do our very best and play it like a championship game,” he concluded.
