Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BGAWAN
EASYWAY stamped their class over TK Tea House 123-72 in the title-decider to lift the YOU.C1000 Cup on Saturday night.
It is the fifth time that Easyway have won the annual competition, which is held in conjunction with His Majesty's birthday celebrations.
The title is also the second post COVID-19 after they captured the National Basketball League earlier this year.
Easyway had everyone on their roster get on the scoresheet with Decorey Jones leading the way with a game-high of 25 points.
Jake Chong poured in 24 points while Andy Sim added 17 at the BBA Court in Batu Bersurat.
Captain Ben Sim and Muhd Zainul Ashyraf Hj Hussin contributed 14 and 10 points respectively in the lopsided victory.
On the other hand, John Medina topscored for TK with 22 points while Allen Salvador chipped in 13.
The pair of Joey Dela Pena and SP Megallon scored 12 points each in the defeat.
TK Tea House came out by utilising box-one defence on Spalding, considering Fateh did the same which limited the American to just nine points in the semi-finals.
But it didn't go according to plan as Easyway had everything going for them from the get go.
They opened up a double digit lead for the first time with three minutes left in opening frame at 18-8.
It was easy buckets for Easyway as they capitalised on the TK turnovers to score points on the break for a 29-15 lead going into the second period.
Easyway were simply dominant and the lead ballooned to 43-20 midway through after back-to-back treys by Chong.
To make matters worse Requintin was whistled for his fourth foul two minutes before the interval.
Easyway continued to run away as they built their advantage to 62-31 at halftime.
There was simply no way back for TK as Easyway led by as many as 47 points in the third quarter.
They crossed the century mark after a pair of freethrows by Zainul with seven minutes to play enroute to the blowout win - which they led by 55 at one point.
Ben was ecstatic with the win and felt that everything just went their way.
"It feels great (to finally win) as we had our ups and downs," said Ben in an interview with BruSports News.
"But it is not like we haven't won anything since the last but this one is important to us as it is biggest tournament in Brunei.
"It was our day today as whole tournament we have been prepping, doing video reviews, practising and got a lot of time together," he added.
"We came ready today and everyone was focused and did their job," continued Ben.
When asked on what's next, Ben replied: "Rest and enjoy this championship then head back to training as soon as we can."
Meanwhile, it was a much closer affair in the third-place playoff as Fateh came from behind to beat Yi's Nation 105-88 to claim the bronze.
