Early blip a blessing in disguise for Farmco

PETALING JAYA: Farmco TouchUp started their campaign in the Malaysia Pro League ( MPL) on a sorry note.

Despite boasting 2.23m Maltese giant Samuel Deguara and Cameroonian forward Chris Kuete in their ranks, Farmco lacked chemistry as they lost 67-81 to the KL Dragons Basketball Academy in their opening match at the Maba Stadium on Oct 13.

That was, however, their only blip. The Perak-based team have since rallied together with Deguara and Kuete proving unstoppable. Youngsters like Tan Wen Gio and Low Ken Yen also made major contributions.

On Sunday, Farmco scored their fourth straight win with a 90-66 thumping of Verve Club. Deguara and Kuete led with 23 points each while 19-year-old Tem Zhen Jie had a solid shift with 11 points.

With the win, Farmco moved up to second in the six-team standings to join leaders Dragons as automatic qualifiers for the semi-finals. Farmco will be seeded second behind Dragons in the Oct 28 semi-finals.

Head coach Antolin Zamar Jr credited Farmco’s good run to the team’s camaraderie.

“After the first loss to the Dragons, we had our team talks to iron out our flaws. Everyone realised the need to put the team over self. And the players promised to put in extra effort.

“So far it’s been going great for us and we’re improving steadily,” said Zamar Jr.

“It’s good to be the second seeds because we get an extra day’s rest. Now we hope to sustain our form until the end. But we’ll take it one game at a time,” he added.

In the semi-finals, Farmco will face either Verve or Kings Pinas Asia, a guest team from the Philippines, while the Dragons meet either Penang Stallions or PRG Eagles.

The Verve-Pinas Asia and the Stallions-Eagles match is on Oct 27. The final is on Oct 29.