Fadhil Yunus
Easyway survived a major scare in the You-C1000 Basketball Cup quarterfinal to seal a 69-67 victory after being pushed all the way by Pegasus at the Brunei Basketball Association Court in Batu Bersurat last night.
The victory ensured the reigning holders a place in the tournament’s last four.
Easyway captain Ben Sim contributed with 21 points to get his team over the line while Jake Chong chipped in with 19.
Meanwhile, Pegasus player Jeremy Chu set a game-leading 31 points in a losing effort.
Easyway jumped into the lead but Pegasus found their rhythm as the game wore in.
In what proved to be a tricky test for Easyway, Pegasus winded them down all night with Jeremy causing problems with his accuracy.
Easyway key player Jake Goh and new talent Darren Hong enjoyed moments to keep their side ahead by fine margins.
In the final stages of the third quarter, Jake’s defensive attributes helped protect his team’s slender lead with Pegasus looking dangerous on the offence.
Easyway withstood a wave of attacks from the Pegasus onslaught, but a four-point lead heading to the final stanza still represented a source of concern.
Pegasus got closer as Gideon Fong was left all open to put his side just a point adrift midway in the fourth quarter.
The fourth quarter was too close to call as Jeremy showed his ability to carry his team after helping them into the lead.
However, Easyway responded with their next attack to square the game again.
It was an intense final few minutes as Pegasus captain Ting Heng Lee and Jeremy looked to seal a famous victory only for Ben Sim to intervene to keep his side in contention.
It was a dramatic end to the game as Ong An proved to be the hero with 11 seconds remaining.
As Pegasus made a final push to force the game into overtime, they missed their last shot and subsequently ran out of time.
