Barracudas home in on final playoff spot with win over Tigers

Darunpong Apiromvilaichai of the Tigers goes for two despite the defense of Barracuda Celedon Camaso. (Photo 1 courtesy of ABL)
Bangkok, Monday, January 4, 2009 – The Brunei Barracudas beat the Thailand Tigers 94-89 to improve their chances of a playoff spot with four games to go to the end of the regular season.
Trailing by 11 points (70-81) at the start of the fourth, the Tigers came roaring back as the Barracudas struggled without centre Mike Pilgrim who was in foul trouble.
The Tigers made it a one-point game (87-88) with 3:23 on the clock when Chaz Briggs sank a two-point basket and then Attaporn Lertmalaiporn gave them the lead at 89-88 with 2:49 to go.
That proved to be the last points of the game for the Tigers who, forced to shoot from the outside, went cold with Ratdech Kruatiwa, Attaporn, Ricky Ricafuente and Briggs all missing from three-point range.
Despite their best scoring performance in a game with 89 this season, the Tigers fell to their 10th defeat for a 3-10 win-loss record and are out the reckoning for a playoff spot.
The Barracudas, who led by as many as 21 points early in the third quarter, had five players in double-digit scoring with captain Francis Adriano having a game-high 30 points and 10 rebounds. Teammate Reggie Larry had a double-double performance with 17 points and 13 rebounds.
This was the second-highest scoring game for the Barracudas in the preliminary rounds. Their 94 points is one shy of what they achieved against the Patriots in a blowout 95-70 win last year.
The win improved the Barracudas win-loss record to 5-6.
Quarter by Quarter Scores
Tigers vs Barracudas
1st Q: 18-28
2nd Q: 23-26
3rd Q: 29-27
4th Q: 19-13
Thailand Tigers Game Box Score
| # | Name | PTS | FG | 3PT | FT | OR | DR | TR | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | MIN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| total | 89 | 35/94 | 7/31 | 12/29 | 19 | 29 | 48 | 12 | 8 | 2 | 11 | 28 | 200 | |
| 3 | *Chaz Twan Briggs | 27 | 12/24 | 2/6 | 1/4 | 4 | 11 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 32:10 |
| 5 | Mana Juntuma | DNP | ||||||||||||
| 8 | Chattipak Ruankam | 8 | 4/5 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9:35 |
| 11 | Glenn Santana Bolocon | 1 | 0/2 | 0/1 | 1/2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1:56 |
| 12 | *Ratdech Kruatiwa | 3 | 1/8 | 1/8 | 0/0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 33:00 |
| 14 | Axel John Gaspal Doruelo | 2 | 1/5 | 0/3 | 0/0 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10:40 |
| 19 | *Ricky Inguin Ricafuente | 9 | 3/10 | 3/9 | 0/0 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 19:19 |
| 24 | Chaiwat Kaedum | 5 | 2/3 | 0/0 | 1/2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7:19 |
| 35 | *Ikenna Chukwuemeka Nwankwo | 6 | 2/13 | 0/0 | 2/12 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 32:37 |
| 55 | *Attaporn Lertmalaiporn | 14 | 5/10 | 0/1 | 4/5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 20:53 |
| 69 | Darongpan Apiromvilaichai | 10 | 3/11 | 1/3 | 3/4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 19:07 |
| 96 | Darunpong Apiromvilaichai | 4 | 2/3 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 13:24 |
Brunei Barracudas Game Box Score
| # | Name | PTS | FG | 3PT | FT | OR | DR | TR | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | MIN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| total | 94 | 33/80 | 8/27 | 20/32 | 12 | 26 | 38 | 9 | 7 | 3 | 11 | 19 | 200 | |
| 7 | Aik Hock Lim | DNP | ||||||||||||
| 9 | *Francis Adriano | 30 | 10/21 | 2/5 | 8/10 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 37:43 |
| 11 | Benjamin Sim | 0 | 0/2 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 9:07 |
| 12 | *Celedon Camaso | 12 | 4/16 | 2/12 | 2/4 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 40:00 |
| 13 | *Michael Pilgrim | 15 | 7/10 | 0/0 | 1/2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 29:45 |
| 18 | *Leonidez Avenido | 20 | 5/12 | 3/5 | 7/10 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 37:40 |
| 22 | Kian Leong Soon | DNP | ||||||||||||
| 24 | *Reggie Larry | 17 | 7/18 | 1/3 | 2/6 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 39:57 |
| 36 | Chee Choun Lim | 0 | 0/1 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5:48 |

Tiger Ikenna Nwankwo tries to find a way around Barracuda Mike Pilgrim. Nwankwo only managed 6 points for the night. (Photo 2 courtesy of ABL)

Barracuda Reggie Larry dunks for two. Larry had a 17-point, 13-rebound performance. (Photo 3 courtesy of ABL)
Popularity: 11% [?]
I wonder how long this five baracudas import can sustain.. play almost 40 mins a game… local players should step up..
the barracudas are similar to the basketball anime series “dear boys”, wherein they only fielded five players.