Tim Cheung had his own 6-0 run against SAMURAI to start the game, hit also the final six points for his team including the final basket with two seconds left and gave M.I.B. a first victory of the season in what thought to be their last game before next season begins.

M.I.B., who played only six players and nobody else — friends or fans — on the bench, led 8-4 at the end of the first period, when Chi Chiu Au and Michael Chan were the only SAMURAIs to score.

After a time-out, SAMURAI came back and tied the game at 8 in the second period behind two straight jumpers from Mark Au. Chi Chiu Au tied the game again at 12 but SAMURAI cannot take a lead until a free throw from Mark Au and two points from William Wong, which gave them a three-point cushion at half-time.

M.I.B. continued to play a very, very slow-paced game and managed to tie the game again at 15. Jackie Lai split a pair of free throws but Adrian Chou answered with two to take the lead back. Kelvin Ng drove to the basket into the crowd for a layup which put the game back to 19-17. He got cheers from the team’s bench and turned the volumn of the game back on after a long period of silence.

As the game was tied again at 19, Patrick Lai hit a long three to give SAMURAI a three-point lead into the final period.

Chi Chiu Au, who missed all his three shots in the third period, started the final period with two points for 24-19. This five-point cushion — the biggest margin of the game since the 6-0 run in the beginning — did not last, however, as Adrian Chou made a tough trey after SAMURAIs failed to score again and missed some easy baskets.

Tim Cheung, who did not attempt a shot since the only one in the second period, swished a jumper to tie the game and made another for a 26-24 lead.

Having missed the first and then the second free throw which was followed by a lane violation by Bryan Lo, Michael Chan hit the third try. Gilbert Fu was fouled out and Patrick Lai hit both foul shots for a 27-26 lead with 11 seconds left.

After the final time-out by M.I.B., Tim Cheung was found open near the free throw line and he made the game winner that ended SAMURAI’s disappointing season. Tim Cheung was perfect from the floor in the final period with 3-3 shooting and he scored a game-high 12 points.

Jefferson Tong struggled from the floor, made only his first goal in a third try followed by 8 misses. But he tied his personal best with 15 rebounds. Adrian Chou scored a double-double despite shooting only 4-14. He added four blocked shots. M.I.B. had the advantage on the board, out-rebounded SAMURAI 34-26.

Chi Chiu Au led all SAMURAI by eight points but was only 4 for 15. Patrick Lai added five, all in the second half. Jack Chiu did not attend the game due to flu symptoms. Captain Eric Leung, who led the league in three-point made with 13 in Season II, was scoreless with three attempts. The shooter’s attempts from the field dropped from 7.6 to 5.9 last season and 4.7.

SAMURAI lost to M.I.B. on 2006 Nov 5 in Season II, also 27-28. M.I.B. snapped the losing streak at 7, which started since they lost in the Semi-Final to H.F.C., the next opponent this season.