ASEAN Schools Basketball: Ng Kian Hao leads Singapore into semi-finals in 53-45 victory over Thailand

Story by Koh Yizhe/Red Sports. Photos by Vanessa Lim/Red Sports

ITE East, Monday, July 4, 2011 — It went down to the wire, but Singapore eventually did what they had to do to scrape through to the semi-finals of the ASEAN Schools Games boys’ basketball competition when they defeated Thailand 53-45 in the final Group Y match.

After losing to Philippines by nine points in their first match, the local cagers needed to win their final match by at least seven points to qualify for the last four at the expense of Thailand after the Thais had beaten Philippines by four points on Sunday.

But Singapore were up against a team who had a distinct height and size advantage and a hot-handed shooter in the form of Arnon Lamlamai, who rained numerous treys down on Singapore. Along with a very vocal group of Thai supporters, it was by no means an easy task.

However, with the odds firmly stacked against them, Singapore made it through under the guidance of captain Ng Kian Hao who also nailed a couple of clutch free throws at the end to set up a date with their rivals from across the causeway, Malaysia.

This performance was the best way to make critics eat their words after the Singapore boys showed a lack of experience by letting a 12-point lead slip against the Philippines.

“We may have a height and size disadvantage but we played with a big heart and as a team,” said Kian Hao, a 17-year-old North Vista student.

“I just had to shut out all the jeers from the Thai supporters and hit the free throws because I knew those were the ones that would send my team through to the semis. We had to really believe that we could do it especially after the defeat to Philippines. I thought we lost focus a bit after the first defeat so I reminded my team to concentrate and complete the task.”

It was not all smooth sailing from start to finish for the boys in red.

Although they were quick off the blocks with a 4-0 lead, Thailand soon reeled them with their star shooter, Arnon, nailing back-to-back treys to give his side the lead. The match continued at a blistering pace as the Thais managed to take a 13-9 lead into the first break.

However, Singapore were not about to let the Thais take the game without a fight, especially in front of a strong home crowd. Hibshamir made a couple of breakaway layups to tie the game at 13-13 before David Soo gave Singapore the lead with a pair from the charity stripe.

Delvin Goh was also performing well in the second period as he was a force to be reckoned with inside the paint. The Unity Secondary student managed to garner six quick points as Singapore extended their lead to 23-16 midway through the quarter before they brought a 25-21 lead into the half.

Although there was a brief moment when Arnon displayed his shooting skills once again with a three to cut the lead to 28-30, Singapore stormed forward with an aggressive play at both ends of the court.

It was captain Kian Hao’s turn to shine for the host as he drove past the Thai defense on a couple of occasions for layups. Led by their captain, Singapore extended their lead to double digits at 38-28 with 1 minute and 42 seconds before the final quarter.

Lester Ng then nailed a buzzer beater to maintain his team’s lead at 40-31 going into the final 10 minutes.

If the match ended then, Singapore would safely go through but there was still another 10 minutes to be played and memories of the previous match where they surrendered a similar lead would have definitely been on the boys’ minds.

As expected, Thailand did not lie down as they pushed Singapore all the way. Arnon continued to make treys while centre Paramet Kongsang helped trip the lead slowly as well.

Eventually, they managed to cut it down to just two points with one and a half minute remaining at 45-47. However, knowing a two-point victory would not be enough, Singapore attempt to stretch their lead as the game moved from end to end.

Singapore might count themselves fortunate as there were occasions for the Thais to cut the deficit on the break, but the visitors missed the easy layups and the host collected the rebound to the relief of many in the stands.

Ultimately, it was Kian Hao who led by example, stripping the ball from his opponent in the middle of the court with six seconds remaining before getting fouled as he attempted the layup. Singapore were up 51-45 at that point and needed him to make one to go through.

Singapore captain displayed nerves of steel as he sank both free throws to send Singapore into the semi-finals.

“When they caught up, I felt like, ‘Oh no, not again!’” described man-of-the-match Kian Hao.

“But as a leader, I just told the boys to calm down and to believe that we can do it! And obviously we’ve done it!”

“It was simply down to the self-belief of the players,” said assistant coach Shanmugadas S/O Kumaresadas.

“Like I said previously, that defeat against the Philippines was a learning experience and today, they showed that they have learned. The boys knew what to do to handle the situation when the Thais caught up.”

“Hopefully, we’ll be able to carry on the momentum into the semi-finals against Malaysia.”

A player that he singled out for praise was Ng Wei Xiang who did all the intangibles for the team.

“Of course Kian Hao did really well, but besides him, Wei Xiang was the spark of the team,” said the coach.

“He brought energy to the whole team and although he did not score many points, he did everything else for the team.”

Singapore will be looking to look to book a place in Wednesday’s final as they face defending champions Malaysia in the semi-final on Tuesday. Their opponents from across the causeway defeated Indonesia 59-53 before sweeping Vietnam 132-29 to top their group.

Come support Team Singapore at ITE College East at 1.30pm!

Singapore lineup
Peter Soo (#4)
Thng Jun Rong (#5)
Ng Wei Xiang (#6)
David Soo (#7)
Wong Keng Yang (#8)
Hibshamir (#9)
Ng Kian Hao (#10)
Lee Lai Sheng (#11)
Tan Jun Wei (#12)
Lester Ng (#13)
Delvin Goh (#14)
Chun Wang Xuan (#15)

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