BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
Monday, October 19, 2009
THE Barracudas failed to do a double on the KL Dragons when they fell 76-73 in their first home game of the inaugural ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) at the National Indoor Stadium of the Hassanal Bolkiah National Sports Complex in Berakas yesterday.
Chris Lynch led the Dragons with 23 points and their other American import, Jamal Brown, posted a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds.
On the other hand, the Barracudas were led by Don Camaso with his double-double
of 23 points and 10 rebounds while his compatriot Leo Avenido chipped in 19 points..
Brunei's first professional basketball team were banking on their big American imports, Mike Pilgrim and Lonnie Jones, to help deliver back-to-back victories by playing in the low post. They executed the same plan to perfection in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday to slay the Dragons 94-76.
But it was a different ball game yesterday as both Pilgrim and Jones were limited to 12 and four points respectively and that led to the Barracudas' downfall.
Dragons coach, Goh Cheng Huat, had made the right changes to double team the Barracudas' American imports each time they touched the ball.
The Barracudas managed 60 points in the paint in their previous match and only 26 yesterday. They were outrebounded 44-27 yesterday. Most importantly, the Barracudas were 13/23 from the charity stripe.
The Dragons came out playing man-to-man full court pressure defence to make things tough for the Barracudas.
In addition, the visitors rallied behind good perimeter shooting to drop five three-pointers for the period to open up a 25-20 lead going into the second quarter.
The Dragons were also collecting the boards despite their shooting having deserted them and stayed ahead 38-35 heading into halftime.
Executing well on offence, the Malaysian side opened up a 52-43 lead halfway through the third quarter, but a 7-2 run towards the end, sparked by Barracudas captain Francis 'Kiko' Adriano with five points, reduced the deficit at 60-55 going into the final stanza.
The comeback was made tougher as foul trouble plagued the Barracudas with Pilgrim heading to the bench after picking up his fourth foul early in the final period.
Sensing the urgency, Avenido stepped up to carry the Barracudas scoring seven straight points down the stretch to help his team grab the lead for the first time at 70-67 with two minutes left in the game.
However, poor execution and turnovers down the stretch allowed the Dragons to avenge their defeat.
"We had a big chance to win as we managed to come back and take the lead. We knew it wasn't over until the final buzzer," said Barracudas coach Bong Ramos in an interview with The Brunei Times after the game.
"We expected all the things like double or triple teams on our imports and it happened. We executed well on offence and attacked from the weak side but we missed too many shots towards the end.
"They came here ready to play and avenge their defeat in Kuala Lumpur. I knew it was going to be a different story and I was right. I knew they were going to be a different side. But there is noone to blame for the loss and I take full responsibility for it," said the Filipino mentor.
The coach said fatigue also played a role in their first home defeat as they had to play three games in the opening week of the ABL.
On the other hand, Goh was relieved and dedicated their first win in the league to the team's owners.
"I'm glad and proud that my team managed to pull it off."
Meanwhile, the Singapore Slingers pulled off a convincing 74-69 win over the Philippine Patriots to notch up their second victory at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Kyle Jeffers posted a double-double to lead the Slingers with 17 points and 12 rebounds while their other American import, Michael Leblanc, chipped in 15 points.
Brandon Charles Powell led the Patriots with his own double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Satria Muda BritAma got their first victory in the ABL yesterday edging the Thailand Tigers 78-75 at the Nimibutr National Stadium in Thailand.
Alexander Hartman led Satria Muda with 33 points. Ricky Ricafuente and Attaporn Lertmalaiporn each contributed 23 points for the Tigers to a losing cause.
The Brunei Times
0 comments:
Post a Comment