Dragons spew fire

05/10/1998

PERAK ....... 79 PENANG .... 76
SELANGOR .... 93 JOHOR ..... 86
DEFENDING champions Johor Tigers, riding high until two days ago, lost to
Selangor Dragons 93-86 in the second leg of the Malaysian Basketball
Association men's League in Kuala Lumpur last night.
Both teams were deadocked 36-36 at halftime but with three minutes
remaining on the clock, the Tigers took a 71-66 lead and almost had the
match wrapped up in their claws.
But Dragons refused to throw in the towel and at fulltime, levelled the
score at 78-78. However, in the extra five minutes of playoff, Dragons
were on fire.
In another match, K. Satyaseelan of Perak Red Eagles broke the duck
after two minutes of tensed action to hand the Silver State their first
win in the League.
But it was not an easy win for the Eagles as the new kids on the block,
Penang Stallions, matched them all the way.
Derick Leak took the cue from Satyaseelan to sink a few more points for
Perak, who looked as though they were ready to romp away but a three-
pointer from the shortest player on court at 170cm, Mah Poh Chuan, brought
out the wild side of the Stallions to bridge the gap at 6-13.
Perak then brought in Chai Swee Lee, who sank three baskets in a row
only to see Poh Chuan duck beneath the towering Eagles to steal baskets
and make the score 11-7.
The foreign players were hired by Maba to teach the local pros and the
best example of the day was Stallions' Matt Hould, who was seen time and
again correcting the faults of the locals and uplifting their moves to
keep up the pace at 23-33 with seven minutes remaining on the first half
clock and at 40-43 at the breather.
Unlike the first, the second was a much closer affair with the Stallions
fighting point-for-point and with four minutes on the clock, the score
stood at 65-68.
But when Yong Yoon Phin of Perak sank a three-pointer from the middle of
the court, the match looked to be Eagles', only to be denied by a few
quick counterattacks from the Stallions to bring the score level at 71-71
for the first time.
Yoon Phin again fired a three-pointer but Poh Chuan kept the pace and
levelled the score to 76-76 with 30 seconds on the clock.
Eagles then received a penalty and sank two points. With three seconds
on the clock, they again received a free throw which Yoon Phin executed
for a narrow 79-76 win.
TODAY: Penang v Sarawak (7.0), Perak v Selangor (9.0 - both matches at
Maba Stadium).
(END)