Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
TK Tea House secured passage into the quarter-finals of the YOU.C1000 Cup after dispatching Team OBS 78-71 in Group A on Tuesday.
They turned the game on its head with a 15-0 run in the decisive frame at the BBA Court in Batu Bersurat.
Playing without the talismanic Elvin Requintin, Cleverson Baguioro scored a tournament-high of 39 points to power TK.
Al Jauhali was the other in double figures with 12 in the victory.
On the other hand, Ahmad Termizi Hj Noordeen topscored for Team OBS with 21 points.
Delson Khoo added 11 and Hadi notched 10 in a losing effort.
Team OBS got off to a good start and led by as many as eight points in the opening frame.
TK clawed their way back in the second frame and went in front for the first time just before the break.
Daniko Hidalgo finished a three-point play with eight seconds to see TK up 32-31 at halftime.
It was see-saw battle in the third with TK leading by as many as seven points.
Foul trouble crept in for them but they stayed ahead 52-47 going into the fourth stanza.
Team OBS were not helped by their turnovers but they stayed within reach.
Back-to-back baskets by Masduqi Hj Hussin and a freethrow by Mizi saw them cut the deficit to 61-57 with six minutes left.
Things crumbled for them as TK scored 15 unanswered points capped off by a Jauhali trey to make it 76-57 with 2:49 on the clock.
Team OBS called a timeout and came out with Yon burying a three.
It sparked a 12-0 run in the next two minutes but time was simply not enough as their comeback fell short.
Meanwhile, defending champions D'Barkadz also secured their slot in the next round with a 101-93 win over LTY Foodstuff.
The competition resumes on Wednesday with Group B action.
Easyway will be up against Patriots at 7pm.
The second game pits Yuni-ku against Midnight Media Mavericks at 8.30pm.
