After Saturday’s dramatic 65-62 loss to the Emperors in the second game of the Angkor Beer Cambodian Basketball League playoffs semifinals, Davies Paints stormed home to a 87-71 win on Sunday at the Olympic Stadium Indoor Arena to wrap up the series 2-1 and advance to meet Pate 310 in the championship round.

The title match of the CBL’s second season between Davies Paints and Pate is slated for 2pm on Saturday, while the Emperors and Mekong Tigers play off at 9:30am for third place.

As was to be expected, the semis decider was a tense affair, but Paints got the first run on Emperors with a 21-14 opening quarter and stretched it to an impressive 51-34 at half time with Janno Cunanan proving a thorn in the Emperors’ side.

Bun Vanna’s good work from behind the arc was the only good happening for the Emperors as they desperately went in search of an effective plan to deal with Cunanan.

By the end of the third quarter, the Emperors had to deal with double trouble – the mounting Paints lead and one of their key players Kim Vengngoun picking up his fourth foul.

Paints were in no mood to relent despite seeing their rivals bridge the divide to nine points in the fourth quarter. But for Hour Pichbounchour botching up several lay ups, the Emperors could have been a lot closer and the team’s feeble comeback attempts were completely killed when Pichbounchour and Vengngoun were both forced out of action after their fifth individual fouls.

Score Summaries

Game Two (Saturday)

Emperors 65 (Kim Vengngoun 16, Hour Pichbounchour 13, Monh Ratana 10) Davies Paints 62 (Aimar Sabayo 19, Janno Cunanan 16, John Cornito 8)

Game Three (Sunday)

Davies Paints 87 (Janno Cunanan 24, Aimar Sabayo 18, Victoriaro De Luna 13) Emperors 71 (Bun Vanna 27, Monh Ratana 13, Kim Vengngoun 12)