BANGKOK (Thailand) - The final day of the Road to Final 8 – East Asia saw Punjab Police log their first win in a thriller, while the Fubon Braves finish with an unblemished record.

The Indian champions found themselves down by 10 points at halftime, but conjured an inspiring rally to overtake SAFSA’s lead in the 4^th quarter. The Singapore club had some last second attempts to tie the game or even take the lead, but failed to capitalize on their opportunities. A blocked layup at the final buzzer resulted in Punjab Police going away with an 81-78 victory.

(Sukdheep Pal Singh Dhillon, left)

SAFSA’s Delvin Goh appeared for his first game of the competition and was quick to go to work with 12 points and 6 rebounds in the first half. Goh finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds, while Leon Kwek also scored 20 for SAFSA.

(from left to right; Leon Kwek, Delvin Goh)

Punjab Police lacked the points from leading scorer Rajvir Singh, but instead got an explosion from Sukdheep Pal Singh Dhillon. The 26-year-old had his best game of the tournament by far with 29 points and 7 rebounds. The major factor for the game was free-throws where Punjab went 19-27 and SAFSA got only 10-21 shooting from the charity stripe.

Meanwhile, the battle between the undefeated clubs of Fubon Braves and Hitech Bangkok city was as intense and entertaining as advertised. The Braves came from down by as much as 15 points to win the game, 77-76. 

The pace of the game at top speed from the start and Hitech’s aggressiveness rewarded them with 26 attempts from the charity stripe in the first half. Xavier Alexander was the force for Hitech with 29 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists, but missed the potential game-tying free throw.

(Xavier Alexander, Hitech Bangkok City)

The Braves rattled off a 14-2 run to start the 4th quarter with Tsai Wen-Cheng drilling a jumper to get Fubon's first lead of the second half. Tsai was clutch once again after Hitech tied the game up at 67. Hitech tied the game twice in the final minutes, but each time was responded by the heroic performances from JeQuan Lewis.

(JeQuan Lewis, Fubon Braves)

The final dagger was a beautiful stepback jumper by Lewis with 53 seconds remaining to seal the game for the Fubon Braves. Lewis finished with 18 points and 5 assists while Charles Garcia led the way for 20 points.

Standings

1. Fubon Braves (3-0)
2. Hitech Bangkok City (2-1)
3. Punjab Police (1-2)
4. SAFSA (0-3)

FIBA