Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
LIM Liang Wei came alive in the second half to power Fuzhou Shiyyi Association to the YOU.C1000 Cup title after defeating TK Tea House 84-79 in the final on Friday.
Lim tallied a game-high of 36 points - 29 of them coming in the second half - in the triumph at the BBA Court in Batu Bersurat.
Ahmad Termizi Hj Noordeen added 22 points while the pair of Esmond Tan and Jerson Mendoza chipped in 10.
On the other hand, Earl Medina topscored for TK with 22 points while Jonathan Doles contributed 19.
Elvin Requintin was the other in double figures with 16 to a losing cause.
In a closely contested affair, TK had carried a 57-54 lead into the fourth stanza.
Fuzhou snatched the lead after Tan connected on a three-pointer as the buzzer sounded to make it 65-63 with the clock reading 7:32.
Both sides traded baskets and the turn came after Mizi hit a trey to put his side up by three.
Lim then hit a free throw and scored in transition to create a six-point gap at 79-73 with just under three minutes to play.
Doles kept his team within reach with a close range basket while Fuzhou came up empty handed the next trip.
Medina, who is normally a good freethrow shooter, was then fouled but he missed both his attempts from the line with 1:24 left.
Tan came up big as he banked in his shot at the buzzer with only a minute left to make it a six-point gap again before fouling out at the other end.
William Ching split the ensuing charities and TK managed to pull off a defensive stop resulting in a shot clock violation right after.
Matt Jerickson was whistled for an unsportsmanlike foul on Medina the next possession.
However, the latter could only make one from the freethrow line.
Keeping possession, he finished off a layup to stay within reach.
However, Lim would finish off a coast to coast layup leaving behind three defenders the next play to make it a two-possession game at 83-79.
TK took a timeout and it resulted in Requintin taking a three but he missed as Fuzhou secured the ball and the title.
