Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
IT WAS a tale of two halves as Propel defeated Tech G 83-68 in Group D of the YOU.C1000 Cup on Wednesday.
They trailed the entire first half before turning the tides after the interval at the BBA Court in Batu Bersurat.
Alvin Goh knocked down a game-high of 21 points to pace Propel.
Ben Sim added 19 and Voon Yiew Ting chipped in 10 in the victory.
On the other hand, Ryan Francisco topscored for Tech G with 13 points.
The pair of Michael Emboltorio and Jem Lasian poured in 12 and 10 respectively to a losing cause.
Both sides got off to good starts shooting a high percentage from the field.
Tech G led 14-13 midway through the opening frame.
They then notched nine unanswered points as they outhustled their opponents for a 23-13 lead going into the second stanza.
Tech G were cutting into the paint and getting it done from the inside.
However, Propel managed to trim the deficit to a single point at 29-28 with over three minutes to the break.
Tech G replied with eight consecutive points including back-to-back treys by Mario Pahimutang Jr.
Propel were not helped by their turnovers and missed some easy baskets to trail 37-33 at halftime.
Tech G lost steam and struggled at the offensive end after the interval.
They were not helped with foul trouble creeping up.
Propel went in front for the first time with 5:51 left in the third after Goh completed a three-point play to make it 42-39.
Propel utilised a half court trap and it paid off handsomely.
They forced turnovers off their opponents and opened up a 55-49 lead going into the decisive frame.
Propel went up by double figures and back-to-back threes out them up 67-53 with over six minutes left.
Tech G simply didn't have enough in their tank and a corner trey by Sim was the exclamation point with four minutes to play as the gap ballooned to 20 points.
The result means that Propel will face V United in the playoffs to secure a quarters berth.
On the other hand, Tech G will take on Car Care.
Meanwhile, the earlier game saw Linktech beat MSSSBD 70-45.
The competition continues with two more matches on Friday.
MSSSBD will be back in action against Minimau at 7pm.
A Group A matchup between TK/CJMM and Jedstar follow at 8.30pm.
