Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
BRUNEI secured the bronze medal in the Borneo Cup after a 65-60 comeback victory against Labuan on Sunday.
Jaron On topscored for Brunei for a second straight match with 15 points.
Lim Liang Wei added 14 points while Jack Chong scored 13 in the victory.
On the other side, Jeff Lim produced a game-high of 18 points.
Tan Kah Eyong notched 16 and Gary Goh chipped in 11 in the defeat.
Labuan had opened up a 38-30 lead with 3:30 left in the third quarter at the BBA Court in Batu Bersurat.
Brunei were forced to take a timeout and it worked.
They returned to the floor and went on a 10-0 run to ensure they lead 44-42 heading into the decisive frame.
The hosts extended their lead to 53-46 before a three-pointer by Romeo Ho to stop the rot.
Brunei pushed the tempo and were aggressive to the hoop.
On banked in a trey to make it 61-53 with 4:05 left forcing Labuan to take a timeout.
They scored five unanswered points and the turning point came with just over two minutes to play.
Darrell Tan stripped Chong of the ball but blew the wide open layup.
Labuan were going for the tie but couldn't get it to fall and in turn Jonathan Lim score on the break.
After coming up empty again, Labuan were given a lifeline after Ahmad Termizi Hj Noordeen turned the ball over leading to a Labuan fastbreak to make it 63-60 with 27.3s to go.
Labuan then went with full court pressure and fouled Marcus Lim in the process to send him to the line.
He missed both the ensuing freethrows leaving Labuan with a chance.
However, Ho had his contested three-pointer rim out and Jonathan was sent to the line to stop the clock.
He was cool as a cucumber and knocked down both his charities to ice the game.
Kota Kinabalu were crowned the champions after taking down Miri 69-62 for a clean sweep.
