Youth Olympic Basketball: Singapore boys beat Panama for second win

Story by Koh Yizhe/Red Sports. Photos by Tan Jon Han/Red Sports

*scape Youth Park, Sunday, August 22, 2010 — The Singapore boys basketball team are well and truly on the top of their game. After impressive performances against the United States of America and South Africa, they beat Panama 33-20 for their second win of the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) FIBA 33 basketball competition.

Singapore started the tournament on a disappointing note, losing their four Group C matches against Central African Republic, Turkey, Israel and the USA. They are now playing for the 17th-20th spot.

In their final group stage game against the Americans, however, Singapore displayed a spirited performance. They followed that up by easily beating South Africa 21-12 in the first match of the classification phase to give the home crowd something to cheer about.

Jabez Su scored a game-high 10 points and pulled down six rebounds against Panama while Tan Jun Wei, who is not known for his scoring ability, added eight points. Team Singapore made an impressive 11 shots from 20 attempts, their highest shooting percentage of the Games.

It looked like Singapore would be suffering yet another defeat when Panama sprinted to a 5-0 lead in less than 30 seconds. Enrique Grenald gave Panama the lead on the first possession with a jump shot before Darwin Achibold nailed a three pointer after Larry Liew missed one of his own.

Singapore, however, were not going down without a fight in front of their home fans. Russel Low made a three-point play to cut the deficit, and Jun Wei then got Singapore back on level terms with a pair of successful free throws in an explosive start to the match.

Although Panama took the lead again with a floater from Bryan Waithe, a massive block from Russel and a Larry layup levelled the match at 7-7. Russel then gave Singapore the lead for the first time in the match with a pair from the charity stripe.

The lead traded hands with both teams playing at a high level, but captain Jabez gave Singapore a lead they would not relinquish. He got the hoop and harm after he drew the foul with a fake before putting it into the basket. He missed the free throw, but Singapore would never trail from that point with a 12-11 lead.

He then extended the advantage when he slashed into the paint for a beautiful driving layup before Russel and Larry combined to reject’s Grenald’s layup. Jabez then made another layup to bring his scoring streak for Singapore to six.

Russel put Singapore in a comfortable position at the end of the first half with an under-basket layup and the foul. Although he missed the free throw, Singapore held an 18-13 lead at the interval.

Singapore had ended the first half on a 4-0 run and carried it on when the second resumed. Russel got Singapore going with a layup before Jabez’s massive three-pointer made it a double-digit lead with 3 minutes and 50 seconds left on the game clock.

Russel has been an essential part of the Singapore team in this tournament, playing in almost every minute of every game, but with Singapore cruising in this match, Russel was given a rare opportunity to rest.

However, that did not stop Singapore’s streak as Jabez and Jun Wei added a free throw each before Larry nailed a beautiful three pointer to bring his side’s run to 14 points and the lead to 28-13.

Singapore only needed five points from 2:46 to play to win the game, and although Panama made a couple of baskets, including a three pointer from Archibold, Singapore eventually sealed the game with Jun Wei making two lay ups and Larry winning it with a free throw with 5.1 seconds on the clock.

“This is one of the best games of this tournament for me,” said Jun Wei with a smile. “We were up against strong opponents but we put up a good fight and took control of the game. When we trailed we just calmed ourselves down and slowed down the game.”

“Our team played aggressively today,” commented captain Jabez, who got his face scratched due to rough play. “It is the first time we completed the game before the time was up, even though there were only five seconds left.”

“Jun Wei played very well today and I guess it was due to no pressure and the encouragement of the team. All our teammates encourage each other and that’s how we improve the team.”

“It is our first time getting 33 points and it was our target for today,” said Larry.

Singapore next play India in their final match of the tournament to determine the 17th spot, and Larry said, “Although we beat them in last year’s Asian Youth Games, they’ve become physically bigger. We will definitely give our best. I think my three-point stroke is not there yet. Hopefully I’ll find it in the last game.”

Jabez also commented, “Winning will be our goal. 17th spot is what we want and desire.”

Singapore v Panama 1st Half:

Singapore v Panama 2nd Half: