Excellent Tigers See Off Brothers
By Benny Ang

Bandar Seri Begawan - SYH Tigers reaffirmed their status as favourites of the 3rd Shell Rimula Ultra Invitational Challenge Trophy Basketball Tournament 2003 with a clinical 105-41 victory over Goh Brothers Goldsmiths last night at the National Indoor Stadium.

They may have lost one of their imports in Rossell Ellis who left the Tigers just before the start of the tournament for personal reasons but their emphatic victory last night make them still the team to beat over the next fortnight.

With Todd Bernard shooting at will and the Filipino supporting cast doing their bit, the Tigers are a team that can excel in all departments and look like a team on a mission.

Dubbed as a pure shooter, Bernard showed his worth as his hot shooting made it difficult for the Goldsmiths to keep up with the SYH Tigers. They ultimately worked their way to a 56-44 lead at halftime and it looked at that point as though a demolition job was on the cards.

But the Goh Brothers are a feisty side and were not about to lie down without a manageable six-point deficit midway through the third quarter, utilising a half court trap effectively.

They may have even been closer than the six-points had they not missed so many shots from under the basket but the Tigers were about to take full advantage of the misses.

The Goh Brothers cause was helped greatly when Bernard found himself in foul trouble in the third quarter with four fouls to his name but the Tigers still managed to extend their lead back to seven points by the end of the quarter.

After that the fourth quarter was just a case of maintaining their composure as they closed out the game mercilessly to claim their first victory of the tournament.

In the earlier game, the Chop Eng Sung Keo L.Mark Lakers were just far too good for the hapless GKT Construction outfit, winning 128-78 without so much as breaking a sweat.

The Lakers had six players in double digits led by 18 each from the trio of Renato Agustin, Sony Manucat and Jeralo Ybanez while their import Bobby Parks chipped in with useful 17 points.

The leading scorer for GKT was Hamzah Al-Jihad whose 35 led all scorers but was still nowhere near enough for his side. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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