Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
SOON Kian Leong took over to power Yi's Nation to a stunning 97-90 overtime victory over defending champions Easyway 97-90 in their Group A encounter of the YOU.C1000 Cup on Wednesday night.
The forward scored 11 of his team's 16 points in the extra period to finish with a game-high of 30 points at the BBA Court in Batu Bersurat.
He got everything right from attacking the paint and scored his team's final seven points in triumph.
Mak Chia Wee had a good game with 25 points - which included five treys while Jamri Ramlee added 11.
Ng Lit How also got into double digit scoring with 10 for Yi's Nation.
On the other hand, Ben Sim topscored for Easyway with 19 points while the pair of Md Zainul Ashyraf Hj Hussin and Jake Chong contributed 18 apiece.
Khoo Chin Kai was the other in double figures with 14 to his name in the defeat.
It was a see-saw battle right from the start and it was a game of mini runs in the fourth period that saw both teams deadlocked at 74-74 with two minutes to play.
The momentum kept shifting as Mak knocked down a three before Khoo replied with a trey at the other end.
Ng then knocked down a short jumper and his side pulled off a stop.
Yi's Nation held on to the ball and looked to run the clock but Ben Sim made a vital steal off Cheah Yong Sin to finish with a layup with 40 seconds left.
Jamri then hit a turnaround shot with 22 seconds left to put Yi's Nation in the driving seat.
However, they failed to commit foul to stop play as they weren't in the penalty.
They eventually did when Sim drove to finish for the hoop and harm with 15 seconds left on the clock.
The Easyway captain saw his freethrow take two bounces and out giving Yi's Nation a chance to win in regulation.
Chong made a tactical foul with seven seconds to go and the final play went to Ng as his attempt was just off to send the game into extra time before the heroics of Soon.
The result meant that Yi's Nation completed their Group as runners-up to avoid a meeting against Tk Tea House in the quarter-finals.
Easyway stayed Group A winners while Chill were bumped into third place.
