Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
PROPEL mounted a late comeback to secure the runners-up spot in the women's category of the YOU.C1000 Cup on Tuesday night.
They looked set to finish at the bottom of the three-team competition but edged eventual champions Le Doux Patisserie 51-50 in a thriller at the BBA Court in Batu Bersurat.
Wardah Hj Me'raj came up clutch for Propel as she finished with 12 points, all coming from behind the arc.
Vanessa Pang was the other in double figures with 11 before she went down with an ankle injury in the second period.
On other hand, Rachael Lee had the game-high of 14 points to pace Le Doux while Jong Yee Ling notched 10 in a losing effort.
Propel required a huge win of over 30 points in order to steal the crown from Le Doux but it wasn't going to happen as the game was neck and neck throughout the first half.
The two sides were separated mostly by a single possession and a Masyitah Nurulalam three at the end of the third period was waved off to see Le Doux carry a 40-38 lead going into the decisive frame.
Propel tried to rally for every possession while Le Doux ran the clock.
Lee made it a two-possession game after a coast-to-coast layup and the match looked over when Jong nailed a bucket to make it 49-42 with two minutes left.
At the other end, the revival began after Normawar slashed into the paint for a layup.
Wardah followed that up with a three-pointer to make it 49-47 with just over a minute to go.
Le Doux took a timeout but turned the ball over on the inbounds pass.
It proved costly as Propel took the lead as Wardah banked home another trey with a minute left in regulation.
The game looked set for overtime when Chieng Hei Yien drove towards an open basket but somehow missed the layup with 24 seconds to go.
Nadhatul Simaa was then fouled and sent to the line where she split her freethrows to make it a two-point game.
Chieng was fouled with 15 seconds left and had the opportunity to make amends for her earlier miss.
However, she could only make one from the charity stripe as Propel dribbled out for the win.
All three teams in the tournament finished with matching 2-2 win-loss records with GHK finishing at the bottom on point difference.
