Choo Wei sinks the winning 3

FEARLESS gunner Choo Wei Hong focused on the job coach Britt Reroma charged him with and he never failed his teammates as he sank the winning triple with only two seconds remaining in the game to lead the Sarawak Eagles to a pulsating victory over the veteran SG/ARQ Builders, 61-58, in the Cebu Friendship Invitational Basketbal Cup 2016 at the Cebu Coliseum Monday night.

The victory gave hope to the Sarawak Men’s team to get a slot to the finals since its U17 squad made the championship game following an 82-56 victory over the Don Bosco Technology Center Greywolves in the opening game.

Sarawak U17 will play the University of Cebu Baby Webmasters who also won two games, rendering its game last night for the final elimination round games a non-bearing game, rather a preview to the championship game that will be held at 5:30 p.m. today at the Cebu Coliseum.

DBTC

The DBTC, meanwhile, will play Team B of the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu Magis Eagles for the third place trophy at 2:30 p.m.

The well-rested Sarawak Men’s were toe-to- toe with the Builders, which was laden with veteran players and imports.

The outcome of the game was unpredictable until Hong nailed the gamewinning shot that subdued the Builders who were looking to send the game into an extra period.

Sarawak was ahead, 56-54, with under 30 seconds left, and Ma Chee Kuen gave the visiting team a breathing room with a split free throw.

SG/ARQ, however, did not give up as Ronan Isidro fished out a foul at the other end, giving him a chance to move the Builders within one point. However, after hitting his first free throw, the second clanked out.

Luckily, Cameroonian center Ahmed Salihou was there for the offensive rebound and made a basket to tie the game with only 10 seconds left to play.

Reroma then designed a play for the winning basket, and after the resumption of the game, Sarawak point guard found Hong wide open at the corner for the winning basket.

Stalled

Sarawak’s win put the Men’s finals protagonists on a wait-and-see status as the game between Bogo City and SG/ ARQ last night would determine the finalists. A win by the Builders would create a triple tie situation, which would be resolved through a tie-breaker computation. However, a win by Bogo would automatically put Sarawak into the finals against the Bogo City squad.