Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
EASYWAY came alive from range in the second half to defeat Propel 82-73 in a thrilling encounter on Wednesday to advance to the final of the YOU.C1000 Cup.
Entering the match with an average of 12 three-pointers per game, Easyway were limited to only two made treys in the opening half.
They then made six after the interval, four of them coming in the game-defining third period.
Easyway had distributed scoring with Jeremy Chu leading the way with 21 points and 11 rebounds.
Jake Chong notched 13 points and 15 rebounds while Jonathan Lim added 13 points and 10 assists.
Jayden Chen and Ong Jian An had good contributions with 12 and 11 points respectively.
On the other side, Alvin Goh carried Propel with a game-high of 34 points.
Tung Yee Keong added 16 in the defeat.
After a see-saw battle in the second quarter, Easyway stuck their noses in front 41-38 at halftime.
They opened up a double digit lead for the first time after a three-pointer by Chu to make it 53-43 midway through the period.
Propel then took a timeout and switched to a 3-2 defence.
It worked momentarily but they still trailed 63-54 heading into the final quarter.
Both teams traded baskets early on but Easyway got their largest lead of the match at 74-62 after a layup by Lim with 6:38 left on the clock.
Propel called another timeout and it prevented Easyway from getting any baskets for over two minutes.
However, Propel failed to capitalise on their chances despite getting decent looks.
In turn, a Fariq Affendy basket kept Easyway's lead at 10 points with 1:28 left.
Propel finally got one to drop courtesy of a three-pointer by Goh late on but it proved to be a mere consolation.
