By Amir Yusof/Red Sports
Tan Jun Wei (#4) of Singapore driving past Xaypadih (Laos #13). (Photo 1 © Joseph Lee/Red Sports)
Singapore Basketball Centre, Tuesday, June 6, 2012 — The Singapore Under-18s opened the 8th South-east Asia Basketball Association (SEABA) Under-18 Championship by thrashing Laos 123-19 in an extremely one-sided encounter.
In another game played on the same day, Indonesia beat Malaysia 81-73.
This year’s tournament, which also includes regional powerhouses Philippines, is hosted in Singapore and the home side will be glad to have started on a positive note.
Singapore’s Remus Low finished with a game-high 18 points and teammate Tan Jun Wei followed with 16. The field points converted by the Singapore U18s were evenly spread out across the team sheet with Delvin Goh, Wilson Ang, Chun Wang Xuan and Toh Qing Huang all finishing with more than 10 points.
Laos were put on the back foot from the onset, with their player, Phannolath failing to convert at least five clear cut baskets that came his way. Meanwhile, Jun Wei’s incessant running propelled the home side to a 30-7 lead at the end of the first quarter. In his striking yellow shoes, Jun Wei was a constant thorn throughout, pressuring Laos players off the ball.
With the Singapore Slingers general manager Michael Johnson in the stands, the Singapore U18s refused to take their foot off the gas in subsequent quarters. Delvin Goh, who at 2m was the tallest player on the court, dominated defence by gathering rebounds and spraying accurate passes to his teammates.
Laos were physically and technically no match for Singapore and appeared dejected at times. However, their bench player, Vongmeleuth, came on and impressed, scoring six points in a 15-minute appearance.
Singapore’s U18 assistant coach, Ong Yao Kwang, was cautiously optimistic of his team’s championship winning chances after the game.
“Although we won handsomely, we are not satisfied with the defence side of things. We were too soft at times, and gave the ball away far too easily. This is of course just the first game and we expect things to improve as the tournament wears on,” said coach Ong.
The Singapore U18s face the Indonesia U18s next on Wednesday, June 27th, 8pm.
Scoring by Quarter
Singapore vs Laos
1st Q: 30-7
2nd Q: 31-4 (61-11)
3rd Q: 30-6 (91-17)
4th Q: 32-2 (123-19)
Final Score: 123-19
Scorers
Singapore
Remus Low – 18 points, Tan Jun Wei – 16 points, Toh Qing Huang – 16 points, Tay Ding Loon – 14 points, Delvin Goh – 12 points, Wilson Ang – 10 points, Chun Wang Xuan – 10 points, Wong Keng Yang – 6 point , John Ng – 4 points , Clement Chan – 4 points, Chee Khan Liang – 2 points
Laos
Vongmeleuth – 6 points, Phommasone – 4 points, Labouaphieng – 4 points, Sengthong – 3 points, Phengnalath– 2 points
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