By Ian Chew
Dallas, Texas, Sunday, August 10, 2008 – Just when it counted, Team Asia-blue hits top form.
Although the win came at the expense of fellow Asia-Red (consisting of the Chinese players), it did not take anything away from a much improved performance by the Asian team made up of players from the rest of Asia.
New Zealander Dion Prewster had an outstanding game for his Asia-blue team, justifying his basketball scholarship to the States next year. He top scored with 31 points, often slicing through the Chinese defense at will to lead his team to a 100-83 win.
His confident showing, together with fellow countryman Justin Edwards hitting consistently from beyond the arc, seemed to inspire confidence for the rest of the team.
Singaporean Lin Shengyu, in particular, made great leaps in his display in this game, scoring 9 points while Calvin Chia added 2 points.
“I may be used to playing at centre position in Singapore, but here I have ended up in the guard position! I’ve certainly gained a lot of precious experience in these few matches and will continue to work to improve my game back home,” detailed Shengyu when quizzed about his future plans.
It may be the fifth match in three days for these players, but the competitiveness never waned for a single moment.
Team China jumped out to an early 23-22 lead by the end of the first quarter.
Liitle did they know that it would be the last time they led in the game.
Team Asia-blue caught fire as Dion and company exploded in a 24-10 second quarter run to establish a 46-33 first half lead. They never looked back after that as the team cruised to a 77-57 third quarter lead before fielding all the reserves in the final few minutes for a morale boosting win.
Earlier in the day, they were at the end of the biggest beating in the competition when Team USA 2009 trounced Team Asia-blue 99-50. The match featured more high flying dunks by the athletic Americans.
The highlight play though, still belonged to Dion when he drove in for a buzzer beating dunk on a US defender at the end of the third quarter.
The team next faces Team Africa in the playoffs for the fifth and sixth position in the eight team competition.
For more stories about the adidas Nations Camp, see
Team Asia runs out of steam in slim loss to Team Africa in adidas Nations camp
Team USA powers past Team Asia Blue for huge second win in adidas Nations camp
Singaporeans Calvin Chia and Lin Shengyu struggle in Team Asia Blue’s loss to Canada in adidas Nations basketball Camp.
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