Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
YI'S Nation secured passage into the quarter-finals of the YOU.C1000 Cup after beating Tutong Basketball 70-56 in Group D on Monday night.
Calvin Kong notched a game-high of 19 points, which included four treys, to lead Yi's Nation at the BBA Court in Batu Bersurat.
Jamri Ramlee contributed 11 points while Soon Kian Leong was the other in double figures with 10 to his name in the victory.
On the other hand, Jason Lim paced Tutong with 12 points while Jayden Chen added 11 to a losing cause.
Yi's Nation scored the first two baskets of the game before Tutong used a 7-0 run to gain control.
Both teams struggled at the offensive end as they missed a handful of easy attempts resulting in plenty of running but not many baskets.
Tutong carried a 14-8 lead into the second quarter but Yi's Nation finally settled down.
The latter held their opponents to a single field goal and grabbed the lead after a three-pointer by Kong.
The momentum was clearly with Yi's Nation as they stayed in the driving seat at 28-23 at halftime.
Yi's Nation opened up a double digit lead for the first time courtesy of basket by Soon to make it 37-26 just under four minutes into the third.
Tutong switched to man-to-man to defence but couldn't get any closer than three possessions as Yi's Nation carried 49-40 advantage into the decisive frame.
Yi's Nation continued to build on their lead to as large as 16 points following a 7-0 run to make it 65-49 with four minutes to play.
Tutong applied full court pressure defence and it helped turn the tide a little as they forced back-to-back turnovers off their opponents.
They managed to cut the deficit to single figures after a freethrow by Chen to make it 65-56 with just over two minutes to play.
However, a turnaround shot by Soon off the inbounds with 1:34 on the clock settled Yi's Nation's nerves as they proceeded to victory.
