FORMER champions Seapower kept alive hopes of regaining the Senior Shield title with a narrow one-point victory over Fukien in an exciting losers' pool match at the MacPherson Stadium last night.
Seapower, who completed the Shield and Division A1 League double two seasons ago in their freshmen year, led 43-34 at half-time but had to stave off a late rally by Fukien to win 88-87.
Fukien held a slight early lead but three three-pointers by American Bill Courtney in the 14th minute saw Seapower pulling ahead 32-26 and they ended the first half with a nine-point advantage.
It looked as though Seapower were heading for an easy victory when they extended their lead to 72-51 half-way through the second period, but their game suddenly went to pieces and Fukien started their comeback.
With James Jones and Steve Jackson finding their scoring touch, Fukien narrowed the gap to 69-79 with five minutes remaining.
They brought the match to a climax two minutes from time when they cut the deficit to two points, trailing 82-84.