Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
THE Brunei Basketball Association (BBA) kicked off their National Basketball League campaign on the right foot after dispatching Team 409 73-54 last night.
Chris Chiew led the way with a game-high of 23 points while Kenny Lim added in the win at the BBA Court in Batu Bersurat.
No players hit double figure for Team 409, who suffered their second straight defeat in the competition.
Chan Yung Ken posted a team-high of eight points while the duo of Wong Lih Shean and Thomas Newn recorded seven points apiece in a losing effort.
Team 409 were the better team at tip off and quickly built on a lead.
BBA despite their height advantage were unable to capitalise and fell behind 17-9 at the end of the opening period.
BBA picked up at the defensive end and started the second period with a 9-1 run.
Team 409 couldn't get anything going and only got their first field goal four minutes in courtesy of a fastbreak layup by Newn.
Chiew got to work in the paint and finished the frame with eight points.
The score was deadlocked at 34-34 at halftime after Wong grabbed the offensive rebound for a putback at the buzzer.
Team 409 struggled at the offensive end and only managed one basket by midway of the quarter.
Things quickly soured for them as BBA quickly established a double digit lead and eventually saw it balloon to over 20 points enroute to victory.
Meanwhile, the women's category tipped off last night with Shooting Stars defeating Systematic Living 46-37.
Marsya Rashidi was the game's topscorer with 14 points to pace Shooting Stars. Saralyn B Mospa was the other in double figures with 10 points.
On the other side, Vanessa Pang led Systematic Living with 11 points while Wardah Hj Me'raj and Chloe Chen each contributed nine points in the loss.
