Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
ONG AN was the hero for Easyway as they survived Pegasus 69-67 to progress into the semi-finals of the YOU.C1000 Cup on Saturday night.
Ong hit an open 18-foot jumper with 11 seconds left to give the defending champions the lead for good in a game that saw multiple lead changes.
He then did enough at the other end on the last play to prevent Marcus Lim from sending the game to overtime.
Ong eventually finished the game with eight points in the win at the BBA court in Batu Bersurat.
Ben Sim, who played the entire 40 minutes, topscored for Easyway with 21 points.
Jake Chong added 19 points while Md Zainul Ashyraf Hj Hussin was the other in double figures with 11 to his name.
On the other hand, Jeremy Chu produced a game-high of 31 points, which included eight treys, to pace Pegasus.
Jonathan Lim had a decent game with 12 to a losing cause.
It was a physical affair right from the start and it was Easyway who stuck their noses in front 55-51 going into the decisive frame.
It was a see-saw battle as the game went down the wire.
Pegasus had worked the clock and captain Ting Heng Lee knocked down a three to put them ahead 64-63 with under two minutes to go.
Easyway had the height advantage and Zainul would put them back up the next possession from underneath the basket.
Chu had other plans as he hit a three-pointer with just over a minute leading to an Easyway timeout.
Sim was then fouled the next play and hit both his freethrows to see both teams deadlocked at 67-67 with 57 seconds to go.
Chu had the chance to put his side back in front but missed on his layup attempt.
Sim secured the rebound and got the ball into the hands of Chong, who was then off to the races before laying it off to Ong for the clutch shot.
The quarter-finals resume on Sunday night with Yi's Nation taking on Tropang FBC at 7pm.
The second match pits Fuzhou Shiyyi Association against Nuctech at 8.30pm.
