BY James Kon

Brunei’s professional basketball team, Pegasus, has crushed out of the Malaysia D-League 2022 after finishing only two wins out of six matches in the Group B stage.

Following a convincing win against Johor Tiger 85-56, Pegasus suffered defeats in the final last two matches of the group.

On Tuesday, Pegasus suffered defeat in the hands of MBC 80-91 in the deciding game despite Marcus Quirk 37 points and 15 rebounds effort. The only player who scored double digit was Shean Lin Kuan, who contributed 12 points.

MBC has a more balanced game with Lai Kok Weng having a big game of 29 points and five rebounds. Three players who have scored 10 points each were Lee Kai Ping, Low Ken Yen and Cheah Zi Hong.

It was a tightly contested battle between Pegasus and MBC after the tip off. MBC then dominated the second quarter to lead by 53-42 by the break. The lead then extended to 72-52 by the end of third-quarter and Team MBC continues to maintain their lead throughout the match until the final whistle.

With the loss to MBC, Pegasus has already failed to qualify into the next round. In the final match of Group B on Tuesday, the hot favourite Selangor XXIII handed Pegasus a crushing blow of 117-71. Marcus Quirk despite playing only two quarters managed to score 21 points and collected nine rebounds for Pegasus while his teammates Jeremy Chu and Shean Lin Kuan each contributed 11 points.

Selangor XXIII who remained undefeated in the tournament has five players scoring double digits, Yap Jin Xi has 20 points, Teow Leng Siang contributed 17 points, Ong Chee Wai and Leong Zhen Kang each has 13 points and Yap Run Sam score 11 points. Team Pegasus finished fifth position in the league.

Marcus Quirk during an interview that was posted on MBL’s Instagram page expressed: “We are making the most of the situation. It’s frustrating that we lost a couple of games by one point.”

On the quality of the competition, he said, “I think it’s awesome. The setup of the competition is amazing. The facilities are great. The attention that its getting and how professionally it’s been organised. It’s a great step for not only Malaysia but also for Southeast Asian basketball.”

-- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin