Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
First time in the lineup for GILR Wildcats, Ronnel Sugnan contributed 21 points for the victory.
On the other hand, Gun Eliseo led ALC with 27 points and Ralph Borja poured in 25 points for a losing cause.
Borja of ALC had tied the scores at 78 apiece with 16 seconds left in regulation time before GILR Wildcats won the game by outscoring their opponents 18-12 in overtime to secure victory.
Mordeno did the most damage by scoring nine of his team’s points in the extra period.
“The performance of the team was good … it was our team spirit that helped us win the game. We kept telling ourselves that we needed to win the game,” said Robert Rubillar, the assistant coach of GILR Wildcats.
Both teams started out equally as they exchanged baskets throughout the opening period with the scoreboard reading 13-13 heading into the second quarter.
GILR Wildcats had trouble getting off on offence in the second period.
On the other hand, ALC exploited the openings in their opponents’ defence to score by driving to the basket. This helped ALC to open up a 32-23 lead going into halftime.
GILR Wildcats opened the third period with an 11-0 run, led by Mordeno with nine points, as they picked up their defence forcing ALC to commit several turnovers and turning them into easy points.
ALC, however, were grabbing the boards giving them second chance opportunities.
Eric Eranez, who finished with 22 points, helped keep his team in the game by scoring from under the basket.
Meanwhile, Mordeno caught fire on his jumpshots as he scored 14 of his game high in the period to give his team a 55-51 advantage heading into the final stanza.
The final period was closely contested as neither team could get a stranglehold of the game.
ALC may rue the missed chances to clinch the game as on two possessions in the final period they committed two obstructions by grabbing onto the net while their opponents were trying to score, gifting the GILR Wildcats four points which could have been the difference.
“The first half was difficult as our players were cold without warming up as we arrived late for the game. We were still adjusting and couldn’t focus on the match,” said Rubillar.
With the win, GILR Wildcats move a step closer to making it to the semi-finals of the tournament. “We’re not that confident but it’s all about the will of the team to win. In general, we need to play together as a team and a unit then hopefully we can make it to the semi-finals,” added Rubillar.
The competition continues tomorrow with Shark taking on ALC at 9pm in Group A followed by G4F going up against Asaff at 10.30pm.
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