Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
CUCKOO powered their way into the final of the YOU.C1000 Veteran Basketball Cup with a 73-61 victory over Fateh on Monday.
They will face CJMM in the title decider on Wednesday at 8.30pm.
Voon Yiew Ting had his way inside the paint to finish with a game-high of 23 points for Cuckoo.
Yap Chun Ping also turned in a good performance to notch 18 points in the triumph.
On the other hand, Gabriel Co topscored for Fateh with 13 points before getting ejected early in the fourth period.
Ryan Francisco was the other in double figures with 12 – all coming in the first half – to a losing cause.
It was evident that Fateh were going to have trouble handling the height and size of Cuckoo right from the start at the BBA court in Batu Bersurat.
Cuckoo attacked the paint and opened up a 20-17 lead at the end of the first period.
It was Francisco who kept his side in the match with 10 points in the frame.
Co had to be substituted after clashing heads with Yap on the 8:17 mark that required some treatment to stop the blood gushing from his face before checking back in later in the match.
Cuckoo pulled way and extended their advantage to 13 points midway through resulting in Fateh calling a timeout.
The lead got to as large as 17 points and Fateh used a 5-0 run to end the first half to stay within 39-27 at halftime.
Cuckoo were a bit too casual in the third period and utilised their bench.
Fateh took advantage and closed the gap to within six points before Esmond Tan completed a layup before the buzzer to put Cuckoo up 51-43 going into the final quarter.
Things got heated early in the decisive frame with Benjamin Lim and Co receiving a double tech.
Neither were taken out and the next possession at the other end saw another double foul call and this time Co was ejected from the encounter.
Fateh still managed to deliver their little runs to cut the deficit but Yap went on an 8-0 personal run to ensure Cuckoo move on to final.
