Dragons On A Roll
By James Kon

Bandar Seri Begawan - Suncity Dragons won their third successive game in the 3rd Shell Ritnula Ultra Invitational Challenge Trophy Basketball tournament, beating Komala One Stop LSL 96-77 last night at the National Indoor Stadium, Berakas.

Both teams were evenly matched at the start of the game, with the Dragons only six points ahead at the end of the first quarter, thanks to the exceptional performance by the Dragons' no. 11 Luke Egan who accounted for 12 out of the 25 points his team scored.

In the second quarter though, the Suncity superiority began to tell as they began pulling away from Komala, looking more settled in their defensive, as well as their offensive, plays. Tried as they could, Komala just could not contain the fast moves - and height advantage - by Suncity.

As a result, the Dragons stretched their lead further, going 10 points ahead of Komala at the end of second quarter.

It was a different story in third quarter. Both teams began sluggishly, which saw Komala closing the gap to only 6 points, with 4 minutes to go in the quarter. But it was a comeback that never happened as Suncity pulled themselves together, and by the end of third quarter, were leading 78-61. Komala were a spent force in the fourth quarter, having lost all their fighting spirit, and Suncity never looked back from then on.

Komala's coach Lee Huat Beng was a very disappointed man at the end of the game, with his team's poor performance as well as their lack of communication and teamwork on the court. He blamed the situation on their lack of training as his players arrived on the same day that the tournament started.

Nevertheless he hoped that things would improve as the players play more matches together. But more ominously, he warned that should his team were to play the way as they did last night, they would surely be defeated again.

The Suncity coach, Elmer Reyes, also wasn't too pleased by the way his charges play. He said the Dragons began quite slowly in the first quarter but in the second quarter, they pulled themselves together and started to play good defence and offence - with good communication on the court - to stretch the lead.

Reyes said a lapse of concentration and overconfidence in the third quarter nearly cost the Dragons dearly as Komala came close to sneaking back into the game. But in the end, Sunciry played very well and got the win they deserved.

Reyes said his team had three days training prior to the start of the tournament, and is getting better with each match they play. Even so, he was guarded about their prospects in their next match against SYH Tigers, saying the Dragons have a 50-50 opportunity of winning. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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