Malaysia go down fighting to Australia ACBA Dragons
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia provided good hustle but still fell short in the men’s final of the Maba International Basketball Invitation Championships.
In the end, Malaysia suffered a narrow 59-63 loss to the Australia ACBA Dragons at the Maba Stadium yesterday.
It was sweet revenge for ACBA as they were beaten 73-76 in overtime by Malaysia in a preliminary match on Friday.
The Australians started off well, taking a 6-1 lead before the Malaysians were stirred into action.
ACBA continued to be in front and Darnell Brown fired a buzzer-beating three-pointer for a 29-25 half-time lead.
Malaysia, however, fought back and three pointers from Ting Chun Hong, Wong Yi Hou and Soo Eng Heng (2) gave them a 51-44 third quarter lead.
But ACBA went on a 7-0 scoring spree in the fourth quarter to hold a 61-59 lead with 38 seconds left on the clock.
Malaysia then paid dearly for several missed attempts by Chun Hong, Yi Hou, Kuek Tian Yuan and Chee Li Wei. Brown finished off Malaysia with a pair of free throws as the Australians score a four-point win.
Michigan-born Brown finished with a game-high 28 points while Eng Heng top scored for Malaysia with 13 points.
The Malaysian women, however, had a better day. They ended their campaign with a perfect record after beating Taiwan Nanshan High School 73-63 in the final.
Malaysia, who had won all three of their previous round-robin matches, opted to start with their second stringers against winless Nanshan.
Guard Chong Yin Yin played a starring role with 20 points while Yap Fook Yee contributed 10 points.
“I’m happy with the players’ performance. They showed good fighting spirit and a burning desire to play,” said national coach Yoong Sze Yuin.
“Even the second stringers were impressive and this is a good confidence boost in our preparations for the SEA Games (in Kuala Lumpur from Aug 19-30),” added Sze Yuin.