Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
EASYWAY came alive in the fourth quarter to run away with an 80-51 win over Ekonic in the quarter-finals of the YOU.C1000 Cup on Sunday.
With Easyway holding onto a 45-42 lead at the end of the third, they then outscored their opponents 35-9 in the decisive frame to advance to the last-four
Jake Chong was the brightest spot for Easyway with a game-high of 26 points - including six shots from behind the arc.
Lim Liang Wei added 14 while the duo of Daniel Sim and Jonathan Lim put up 12 and 11 respectively on the scoreboard.
On the other hand, Marcelo Sumagaysay topscored to Ekonic with 17 points.
Al Jauhali was the other in double figures with 10 first half points at the BBA Court in Batu Bersurat.
Ekonic went with a 1-3-1 defensive set early on and managed to hold down their opponents.
They were in front by as many as six points as they carried a 19-15 lead into the second period.
Ekonic maintained their position and made it a three-possession game.
Chong kept Easyway within reach as he finished with 16 first half points.
He raced down the floor for layup just before the buzzer expired to cut the deficit to 32-31 at halftime.
Easyway stole the lead for the first time after a layup by Liang Wei with 8:30 to play in the third.
It was the start of a 9-0 run but things went downhill after that as they then went scoreless for over four minutes.
Ekonic didn't fare much better as they were missing a handful of good looks.
They tied the game at 40-40 after Sumagaysay knocked down a triple with 2:17 on the clock leading to an Easyway timeout.
They finally got one to go as Chong dropped a trey after returning to the floor.
Easyway began the fourth stanza with 10 unanswered points.
Ekonic simply couldn't find the basket and wee running of empty till Sumagaysay eased the pain a little with a trey with 7:35 left to play.
Easyway stayed in attack mode and were knocking down shots at a high percentage from the field.
Sim was a spark plug off the bench 10 points in the frame as Easyway secured their spot in the last-four.
They will next face reigning champions Wan Sing in the semi-finals at 8.30pm on Wednesday.
