Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
TK/CJMM came back from 21 points down to stun Propel 86-83 in overtime in the YOU.C1000 Cup quarter-finals on Saturday.
Propel looked set to take the win after holding on to a 75-66 lead with a minute left in regulation at the BBA Court in Batu Bersurat.
TK/CJMM decided to foul to stop the clock and it worked as Propel bricked from the charity stripe.
Gerald Balaota converted a three-point play to get his side within 75-69 with 40 seconds to go.
Propel were close to an eight-second violation the next possession but was bailed out after Cleverson Baguioro fouled Alvin Goh.
However, the latter missed both his attempts and Gary Antonio would score from close range at the other end.
Esmond Tan was next fouled and he missed both as well leading to Daniko Hidalgo hitting a wide open three to make it 75-74 with 11 seconds left.
Next on the line was Ting Heng Lee and he split his charities setting up nail-biting finish.
Jomarie Corpuz missed the go ahead shot after driving baseline but the ball was tipped in by Allen Salvador to send the game to overtime - his first basket of the encounter.
Both sides looked gassed - suffering from attrition with several players having fouled out - in the extra period.
Propel went in front after Goh knocked down a jumper with 1:30 left but Balaota was there to tie the match at the other end.
He missed two from the line with 37 seconds left but TK/CJMM did well to keep the ball alive with strong hustle play.
It led to Hidalgo driving past two defenders before laying it off for Balaota to score and take the lead at 82-80.
Tan was fouled going for the tie with six seconds left the next possession.
He hit the first but missed the second. Goh grabbed the offensive board but his putback was off the mark.
Corpuz was then fouled with no time left as he iced both his freethrows to end Propel's campaign.
Corpuz finished with a team-high of 18 points to lead TK/CJMM.
Balaota notched 14 and Antonio chipped in 13.
On the other side, Propel were missing the services of Voon Yiew Ting and Han Ming Kwang.
Ben Sim had the hot hands with 25 points - including six treys which is more than TK/CJMM as a team with only four - but fouled out with under two minutes left in regulation.
Goh contributed 15 while the duo of Tan and Zhang Yu had 12 each in the defeat.
