Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
YI'S NATION advanced to the final four of the YOU.C1000 Cup after defeating a gutsy Tropang FBC 79-61 in their quarter-final clash on Sunday night.
The victory sets up a meeting against TK Tea House in the semi-finals on Tuesday at 8.30pm.
Four players hit double figures for Yi's nation with Soon Kian Leong leading the way with a game-high of 22 points.
Jamri Ramlee notched 21 points while the pair of Ng Lit How and Mak Chia Wee added 11 and 10 respectively in the triumph.
On the other side, Mike Nuguid was the only players in double-digit scoring for FBC with 17 to a losing cause.
It was always going to be a difficult encounter for FBC as they only had seven players to start the game at the BBA Court in Bersurat.
They managed to keep it close as Yi's Nation opened up an 18-13 lead going into the second period.
Yi's Nation looked to pull away as they scored the first eight points in the second quarter.
FBC were settling for long range attempts and only got their first basket to fall after four minutes in courtesy of a trey by Nuguid.
Many fouls went uncalled as Yi's Nation extended their gap to 35-27 at halftime.
Yi's Nation looked to run away as they attacked on the break and eventually led by as many as 20 points.
FBC took a timeout and switched to full court man-to-man defence, which saw them score six straight without reply.
They cut the deficit to 11 points after a Nuguid three at the buzzer to see the scoreboard read 57-46 at the end of the third frame.
However, that was as close as they got. Despite their never-say-die attitude, they never really threatened YI's Nation's lead.
The second game saw Fuzhou Shiyyi Association take care of business with an 88-67 win over Nuctech.
Fuzhou will now contest against defending champions Easyway in the first semi-final on Tuesday at 7pm.
