Whites leave it late in thrilling win over Golds in adidas Nations Basketball League

Story by Ian Chew. Pictures by Vanessa Lim/Red Sports

Catholic High School, Saturday, February 7, 2009 – I have never witnessed such scenes in my basketball career.

Team Whites overcame a massive 19-point deficit in the fourth quarter to shatter the hearts of the Golds team at the buzzer.

The hero of the hour, Whites centre Teo Kun You, launched a desperation half-court shot with one second left which actually swished through the hoop.

The Whites broke out in jubilant celebrations as they edged out a disappointed Golds team 76-74 in their first game of the adidas Nations Basketball League.

Whites coach Koh Meng Koon, also a former national player, was understandably proud of his charges’ performance.

“They never gave up though they were trailing throughout the match. This really displayed the fighting spirit of our team,” he said.

Team Whites though had looked dead and buried throughout the first three quarters. Golds’ Dan Cinco, Raymond Chong and Wu Qingde had run rings around the Whites defence, scoring at will.

Forward Dan Cinco, also a key starter of Ahmad Ibrahim Secondary’s basketball team, was particularly impressive with his rebounding and scoring.

As a result, the Golds team steadily increased their lead from 22-18 in the first quarter to 46-30 at half-time and then 62-43 at the end of the third quarter.

The Golds team also showed off their sharpshooting prowess, with forward Joshua Neo downing three 3-pointers and Raymond Chong adding another two.

But they failed to take into account the fighting spirit of the Whites.

Facing an almost insurmountable deficit, the Whites slowly clawed their way into contention with determined drives to the basket from centres Lim Boon Kiat and Teo Kun You. Forward Wong Kam Seng also added 10 crucial points in the fourth quarter from aggressively attacking the basket.

The Golds were also guilty of complacency themselves when they missed wide open lay ups, with Cinco, ironically, the main culprit.

However, the game still belonged to the Golds as they led 73-67 with less than a minute remaining. Instead, Kun You was fouled as he converted on his lay up. He missed his subsequent free throw but teammate Boon Kiat was there to tip it in. An out-of-court violation by the Golds team then led to Kam Seng being fouled. He converted both free throws to level the score at 73-73.

Yet in this heartstopping see-sawing match, Golds’ Larry Liew, also a member of the Singapore Youth Olympic Games 2010 basketball squad, was fouled with 3.8 seconds remaining. He converted one of two free throws for what must surely be a win, until Kun You’s heroics in the final second.

A disappointed Gold’s coach Clement Lim lamented his team’s inability to close out the game.

“We did not execute our offence well in the final quarter. I hope that the team will learn from this experience and become better.”

The earlier match saw the Blacks cruise to a 73-60 win over the Reds.

Top scorers for Whites
Wong Kam Seng (#34) – 16 points
Lim Boon Kiat (#40) – 13 points
Ng Zhaofeng (#31) – 12 points
Teo Kun You (#45) – 15 points

Top scorers Golds
Tan Hong Kwang (#58) – 8 points
Raymond Chong (#1) – 10 points
Joshua Neo (#30) – 11 points

Scoring by quarters
First quarter: Whites 18 Golds 22
Second Quarter: Whites 12 Golds 24
Third Quarter: Whites 13 Golds 16
Fourth Quarter: Whites 33 Golds 12

Player Statistics.