Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
PROPEL clinched the women's title of the YOU.C1000 Cup after edging Linktech 59-55 in an entertaining final on Wednesday.
Vanessa Pang hit the game-defining three-pointer with 1:05 left in the game to lift Propel to the win.
"The opposition team gave us a good fight. I was frustrated no doubt but I believed in every one of us on the court," said Pang to BruSports News after the triumph.
"My teammates were asking me to try shoot threes and the pressure was on but we managed to compose ourselves.
"We knew how crucial this game was. Each and every one of us did well in pressing them in the last two minutes," she added.
"This is the true definition of 'teamwork makes the dream work'. When one of us was down someone will pick us back up," continued Pang.
Linktech took a timeout immediately and went empty the next possession.
Lim Guik Ting was sent to the line with 26.5s to go.
She hit the first and missed the second but Pang chased down the offensive rebound.
Lim was then fouled again and she split her freethrows leading to another Linktech timeout with 21.3s left.
However, they turned the ball over as Angelyn Catalan stepped out of bounds while driving baseline.
Propel ran the clock and Rana Samir was fouled with eight seconds left to play and she made the first from the charity line to put the game out of reach.
Pang had 11 points in the decisive quarter including three treys to finish with a game-high of 21 points while Lim added 11.
On the other side, Catalan topscored for Linktech with 15 points while Charina Caballero added 12 in the defeat.
Propel came out strongly and jumped out to a nine-point lead in the opening period.
Linktech improved as the game progressed at the BBA Court in Batu Bersurat.
They went in front for the first time midway through the second period.
Saralyn Mospa intercepted a pass before finding Caballero for a close range shot to make it 24-23.
The game was tied several times before Propel scored seven unanswered points midway through the third.
Linktech found their way back and Catalan split her freethrows to see both teams locked at 41-41 going into the final stanza.
It was a see-saw battle and Linktech were on the ascendency with the crowd backing them.
Caballero converted a layup before Catalan scored another baseline jumper to make it a four-point game with three minutes to play.
Pang then scored a runner before Linktech turned the ball over with an offensive foul leading to the shot.
Meanwhile, Validus Enterprise bagged the bronze after defeating Minimau 79-42 in the third-place playoff.
