Russel Low scores 40 points to lead Presbyterian High to 86-58 win over Hwa Chong in B Division basketball

By Erwin Wong. Photos by Vanessa Lim/Red Sports.

Jurong West Sports Complex, Friday, April 3, 2009 - Presbyterian High centre Russel Low poured in 40 points in his team's 86-58 win over Hwa Chong Institution today, but neither the feat nor the win was on his mind after the game.

"We played lousy defence and had many turnovers." Said a despondent Russel and his teammate Yao Ming after the boys National B Division Basketball Group D match. "We have to keep improving. For us, defence is the most important."

For Hwa Chong though, there was little their defensive assignments could do to contain Russel. The combined schools player constantly drew double and even triple teams from Hwa Chong and as the defence collapsed on him, he passed out of the post to the open shooters for easy baskets.

And when he decided to take the ball to the rim himself, he almost always came away with two points. He combined with Yao Ming and Bing Yao for 14 of the 16 points in a first quarter run which broke a 9-8 game open, handing Presbyterian a 25-10 lead on their way to 29-14 first quarter advantage.

Hwa Chong's Lai Sheng made two consecutive jumpers over the towering frame of Russel to keep his team within 10 midway through the second period, but again the trio of Russel, Yao Ming and Bing Yao carried their team, scoring all but two of their 14 second-quarter points to maintain their 15-point lead at the half-time interval.

Jun Jie, who had been running Presbyterian's offense, started the second half on the bench as reserve point guard Sean had a run out. However that did not alter the fortunes of Hwa Chong as the ball was continually delivered to Russel at the post. He scored 14 points in the third quarter, including a basket after being quadruple-teamed midway in the period.

Henry, Id and captain Yuan Ming scored seven straight for Hwa Chong to reduce the deficit to 21, but Presbyterian went on their own 8-2 run to complete the third quarter proceedings with a 64-39 lead.

With the game all but sewn up, most of the Presbyterian High starting five were rested as the final period began. Yuan Ming scored 11 of his 19 points in the quarter, including a scooping layup to slash Presbyterian's lead to 18, but with 3:47 to play, their first team was brought back on to see the game through to the end.

Presbyterian immediately went on an 8-0 run in which Russel had his 6th block of the game, and the centre reached 40 points on a buzzer-beating wing jumper.

Presbyterian top Group D with two straight wins, and will play Raffles Institution in the final round of 1st round matches on Wednesday. RI, who bolstered their point differential by pummeling Temasek Secondary 74-47 in another Group D match, will advance to the quarter-final round if they manage an upset win over the North Zone champions.

Hwa Chong will look to continue their fine showing in this year's basketball campaign against Temasek on Wednesday.

"We did perform well (against Presbyterian High), and we have showed that we can play well against other teams in the National round." Quipped Yuan Ming. "We will try our best against Temasek."

Presbyterian High Lineup
#4 Sean
#5 Russel
#6 Bing Yao
#7 Jonathan
#8 Yao Ming
#10 Andrew
#11 Jun Jie
#12 Nathan
#13 Steven
#14 Benjamin
#15 Ivan

Hwa Chong Institution Lineup
#4 Yuan Ming
#5 Henry
#6 Austin
#7 Lai Sheng
#9 Nicholas
#10 Raymond
#11 Bryan
#12 Id Goh
#13 Rong Hao
#14 Shi He

Scoring breakdown by quarter
Hwa Chong v Presbyterian High

1st Q: 14-29
2nd Q: 14-14
3rd Q: 11-21
4th Q: 19-22
Final: 58-86

Leading Scorers
Russel (Presbyterian) 40 points
Yuan Ming (Hwa Chong) 19 points
Bing Yao (Presbyterian) 18 points
Lai Sheng (Hwa Chong) 14 points
Yao Ming (Presbyterian) 12 points