The LovePenang Basketball Championship Cup comes to a close today with the Women’s Division Finals, Men’s Division 3rd placing and finals. It was a very entertaining to watch the matches as most the matches points were quite close. Here is what happened:
Hong Lim vs Big Box 1 (Score – 61:63)
Big Box 1 took an early lead in the first 2 quarters of the game, leaving a gap of around 20 points against their opponents. The fast play and run downs by Big Box 1 made Hong Lim pay for their defensive mistakes.
However by the 3rd quarter, Hong Lim took back the lead by at least 10 points, due to the fouls and rebounds made. This becoming depressing for Big Box 1 team, taking a number of timeouts to fix the problems.
As we enter the last quarter, Hong Lim started to make a number of fouls and errors to allow Big Box 1 to catch up, allowing them to take the lead by 5 points. In the last few minutes, Big Box 1 changed to a very defensive approach to maintain that slim point gap for the win of the matchup.
Penang Stallions vs MK Group (Score – 57:53)
It was quite an equal matchup between two teams from the start of the match as both teams were trying to find their tempo and teamwork to outscore each other.
In the 3rd quarter, things started to get interesting as MK Group started scoring continuously to take at least a 8 point lead. Penang Stallions started to use their timeouts to reconsider their game plan and shorten the score gap to 3 points before quarter ended.
The last quarter was more intense as both teams started to outscore each other, leaving a 2 point gap at times in the first 5 minutes. However, Penang Stallions maintained the lead by taking advantage of the fouls done by MK Group. There even a player ejected out at MK Group, due to reaching 5 fouls in the match. The last 3 minutes spelled doomed for MK Group as Penang Stallions maintained a 5 point gap till the last whistle was made by the referee, sealing their place as Champions of the Women’s Division.
Sunrise Youngsters vs MK Group (Score – 83:57)
Sunrise Youngsters took the opponent team by storm with a huge lead in the 1st quarter, at least 12 points. The face pacing and quick defense blocks by Sunrise Youngsters denied the opponents to score much, make the opponent’s players frustrated to find the weakness in their defense.
As the 2nd quarter starts, Sunrise Youngster gave no space and time for MK Group to find their tempo, running down and punishing them their missed shots and defense mistake with scores of 3 points and foul traps for the free throws.
The 3rd quarter became more intense as MK Group started to play aggressively to try and close the gaps, making some mistakes along the way to allow Sunrise Youngsters to capitalise and take a 20 points lead. Things were not looking good for MK Group as the point gap started to widen to 30 points by the end of that quarter.
MK Group started to pick up the pace with a series of 3 points shots to close the gap back to 18 points in the 4th quarters. However, one of their players was ejected as he has reached 5 fouls, making their strategy to fall apart bit by bit. Sunrise Youngster did not give any opportunity and started to take advantage of the situation, pushing the gap up to 26 points. It was a clear win for Sunrise Youngsters, thus making them the champions of their division.
Closing Ceremony and Awards Presentation
The closing ceremony was presented by the distinguished Penang Chief Minister, Yang Berhormat Chow Kon Yeow, including the organiser, fellow VIPs and sponsors of the championship. The Penang Chief Minister presented the prizes to 4th, 3rd, 1st Runner Ups and Championships of their respective divisions.
Women’s MVP Finals was won by one of the players in Penang Stallion, while the Men’s Division MVP Finals went to Sunrise Youngsters.
It has now come to a close for the LovePenang Basketball Championship Cup for year 2022, and we hope to see this championship return next year for another great run.
We at Scorepeon hope you have enjoyed our coverage and contents on our social media platforms for this championship. Signing off till the next championship.