Terence Chan made four free throws in the final period in a win

Terence Chan scored 6 of his eight points in the final period, Benny Wong scored a game-high 16 points with three 3-pointers as Tigers come back in the second half to take a 29-27 victory over M.I.B. and concluded the O4 series with a third place.

To begin the final evening of the O4 series, Gilbert Fu banked in a basket and Ben Cheng hit a free throw before Patrick Tse answered with a pair of foul shots at the other end. After Tim Cheung hit a free throw for a 10-4 lead, Benny Wong made from deep and cut the deficit to 7-10 before the start of the second period.

Terence was the only Tigers to score in the second period, when both teams struggled to make baskets. M.I.B. led 14-9 at halftime.

Benny was hot in the 3rd period, making two of four from deep and capped an 8-2 run all by himself for a 17-16 lead. Adrian Chou went on to score four points, including a running-leaning basket through three defenders that just go around the rim and fell in, and M.I.B. re-gain a three-point cushion entering the final period. The two are the only scorers for their respective team in the period.

Cindy Lee tied the game for players in red with a long shot at 20-20 but Bryan Lo answered by a jumper and took back the lead. Benny scored the next basket for the team, but Tigers allowed Adrian to make two more baskets for a 26-22 lead.

Terence stepped up this time with a crucial “four-point play”. After being fouled, he made his first free throw but missed the next, he grabbed the rebound that fell on the ground then bank in and was fouled. He finished the three-point play and tied the game at 26-all.

Adrian splited a pair of free throw for an one-point lead, but Terence splited two pairs then and Tigers lead 28-27 with about 40 seconds left. M.I.B. cannot score in the ensuing possession and Benny was fouled immediately when the ball was in-bound with just about 10 more seconds left. He splited the pair of foul shot for a 29-27 final score.

Adrian’s missed a three point shot in the last possesion, Tigers grabbed the rebound with 8 seconds left, run the clock out and improved to 6-0 against M.I.B. including five match-ups in four S.B.L. seasons.

Both teams made seven free throws but was a big difference at the line that Tigers attempted eleven times, M.I.B. twenty one. One of the many misses included a miss by Jefferson who could not finish a 3-point play. While he stole the ball and was all-his-way to the basketball running a fastbreak, Cindy Lee chased from behind and pushed him before the whistle blew.

Patrick Tse once dribbled on a 3-on-2 possesion. He jumped towards the rim with two defenders on both sides but he, who actually was facing teammate Wilson, somehow use his right hand to throw the ball from his left shoulder to Benny, who is right behind his back with a defender right between them. It was counted as an assist as Benny made the shot.

Adrian recorded 12 rebounds, including 9 at the offensive end. He scored double-double with a team-high 14 points. He averaged 7.7 rebounds in three games, ranked second in the series, and was just behind Terence’s 8 rebounds per game.

Benny’s 16 brought him an average 8.8 points, edged 8.7 by Chi Chiu Au, who scored a series-high 18 points later in the same evening against G.T. Explorers.

This was a “farewell game” for Tigers’ centre Wilson Chow, who is expected to miss the next season to rest his sore knee and foot. This was also a real farewell game for M.I.B. forward Ben Cheng, who is going to play for Tigers in the coming S.B.L. season.

Tim Cheng left the game with a sprained ankle. He is the only player in this game who was not on the team in 2006. Otherwise, both teams played a very similar roster date back to 2006 July 9, the second game day of league history, when Tigers beat M.I.B. 37-33.

The very “Original Southorn” — Will Kam, Patrick Tse, Edward Fong, Ken Leung and Benny Wong — did not play together in official games since the Final of S.B.L. debut season.