ASEAN Schools Basketball: Late rally not enough as Singapore lose semi-final to Malaysia

Story by Koh Yizhe/Red Sports. Photos by Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports

ITE College East, Tuesday, July 5, 2011 — A late rally by the Singapore boys in the fourth quarter was not enough to overcome a double-digit deficit as they crashed out at the semi-final stage to causeway rivals Malaysia 68-73 in the 3rd ASEAN Schools Games basketball competition.

The visitors held a 12-point lead at the start of the final quarter but Thng Jun Rong nailed a couple of treys to almost single-handedly drag Singapore back into the match. They came to within three at 67-70 in the final minute, but it was the defending champions who showed composure to soak up the pressure.

They eventually secured victory from the charity stripe.

“Malaysia played a very good zone defense against us today,” admitted assistant coach Shanmugadas S/O Kumaresadas.

“Their guards were really tall and prevented us from passing the ball to those inside the paint, but this defeat is a good lesson to learn. I’m not really disappointed because the boys really left it all out there on the court and I couldn’t be prouder of their effort.”

Following their victory against Thailand the day before, the morale in the local camp was at an all-time high and it clearly showed in the opening minutes of their semi-final.

They sprinted to a 6-0 lead with Delvin Goh and captain Ng Kian Hao combining to give their team the lead. It was a good start for the locals as they were immediately settled on defense. Centre Delvin, who finished with a double double of 13 points and 15 rebounds, played particularly well in the first quarter as he pulled down eight rebounds and had two baskets.

However, Malaysia showed why they are the defending champions as they opened the scoring with a three pointer. Back-to-back threes from their #11 and layups from #4 helped them to take the lead as they went on a 14-0 run to end the quarter with a 10-point advantage at 21-11.

Tan Jun Wei got things going for Singapore with a couple of layups, but Malaysia were pretty much able to maintain their lead throughout the rest of the match as Singapore desperately tried to trim the deficit.

Once again, after a good start to the quarter, Singapore could not get their defense going as Malaysia brought a 33-25 lead into the half.

Much of the same followed in the third quarter with the visitor’s defense forcing quite a lot of turnovers by Singapore and they managed to hold a 36-27 lead after three minutes.

Singapore had not been able to get their perimeter shooting going the first half, but midway through the third, Jun Rong starting firing with a three pointer to narrow the score. Lester Ng made another of his own before Jun Rong nailed another as Singapore cut the lead down to four at 36-40.

However, fast breaks at the other end undid the good work of the two guards as Malaysia took a 54-43 lead going into the final 10 minutes.

Initially, Malaysia were able to extend their lead to 57-45 with a three from #11, but Jun Rong continued his fine shooting form in the fourth quarter to keep Singapore in the match. Another three three-pointers from the 17-year-old allowed the host to cut the lead down to just three points at 60-57 as they rallied.

Delvin also did really well in this quarter as he stepped up to get on the score sheet. He scored eight points in the quarter with a couple of tip-ins whenever the guards missed their shots.

Malaysia did still hold a 70-65 lead with 33 seconds remaining, but two free throws from Ng Wei Xiang brought Singapore to within three again.

However, Malaysia’s #5 sealed the match from the stripe when he nailed his throws. Singapore were able to get another free throw to fall but that was not enough to overcome the deficit as they lost 73-68.

“We’ve all learned a lot from this whole experience and we’ll definitely go all out to win the third/fourth placing match,” said the assistant coach.

“A lot of credit has to be given to the club and school coaches for their work with the boys. (Head coach) Joe So and I just brought them together. Credit also has to be given to the team managers Albert Lim and Clement Lim for the sacrifices they have made to help the team.”

Jun Rong was undoubtedly the man-of-the-match for Singapore with five three pointers that kept his side in the match with a fighting chance.

“He was really excellent today!” praised coach Shanmugadas.

“The rest of the team gave up their own scoring opportunities for him to score so credit to the team for that. The great thing about this tournament is that everyone stepped up to the plate in every match. I’m sure if there were more matches, each and every player would step up.”

Singapore will now play Indonesia in the 3rd/4th playoff. The Indonesians lost their semi-final 43-69 to the Philippines.

For more photos, go to the next page.