By Gan Yu Neng/Red Sports
Shawn Toh (#8) of Anglican High lays up for two against Dunman. He had a game-high 17 points. (Photo © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Clementi Sports Hall, Tuesday, August 14, 2012 — Dunman Secondary broke a deadlock in the last few seconds to beat Anglican High 51-49 in their last match of Round 2 in the National C Division Basketball Championship. Dunman is now the only school to make it through Round 2 of the Nationals — and indeed, the entire C Division championship season — completely undefeated.
In the last 10 seconds, Anglican High were three points behind at 46-49. At the 9.9s mark, Anglican’s Randall Fang (#9) wowed the crowd with a desperate clutch three-pointer that tied the score 49-49. However, with only four seconds to go, Dunman’s Darren Ng (#6) countered with a lay-up and stopped their East Zone rivals from qualifying for the semi-finals.
For the most part, Dunman was ahead in the game, with Anglican High unable to gain the lead a single time from the start of the third quarter onwards. However, Anglican High were never far behind, and the largest lead Dunman were able to get at any one time was eight points — 25-17 in the third quarter, 42-34 in the fourth — before Anglican began closing the gap again.
The pace of the game was dictated by fouls. With both teams in penalty situations for most of the match and 44 fouls committed by both sides, a grand total of 50 free throws were awarded over the course of the game, including those for three-point plays.
Anglican High came away with 16 points from free throws alone, while Dunman managed to get 12 points, with their captain Teck Chong (#11) fouling out by the end of the game.
Shawn Toh (#8) from Anglican High had a game-high 17 points, while his teammate Randall (#9) was close behind with 15. Shawn and Randall kept up an offensive partnership, passing to each other on fast breaks to quickly advance the ball.
Both players made multiple three-point attempts in the earlier quarters in order to get past Dunman’s defense, and in the later parts of the game, to catch up with Dunman. Shawn managed to make one, while Randall scored two.
Lai Hao Qian (#5) was also a constant threat, boldly diving through the defense to go for the lay-up. This tactic worked to provoke fouls more than anything else, and Hao Qian managed to make seven of his 10 free throws to finish the game with 11 points for his team.
Dunman retained many of their defensive rebounds, with their tall center Liew Jia Ming (#14) effortlessly catching Anglican High’s misses. Jia Ming was also strong on offensive rebounds for Dunman. At one point near the start of the fourth quarter, Jia Ming reached up as one of his teammates missed a shot, gently took hold of the rebound over the heads of Anglican’s players, and tipped it into the basket for two.
Dunman also had no shortage of offensive options. While most of Anglican High’s points came from three main players, Dunman showed more team depth, with four players scoring eight points or more.
Even when their top scorer, Xu Teck Chong (#11) fouled out of the match, they were still able to rely on other players such as Darren Ng (#6). Darren came off the bench to score with an impressively speedy drive in the fourth quarter, before making the last-second lay-up that ended the game in Dunman’s favour.
Anglican High’s defeat is their second loss in Round 2, leaving them with only one win against Jurong Secondary. With Catholic High comfortably thrashing Jurong 70-45 in the next court, Dunman with three wins and Catholic High with two wins will move on to the semi-finals.
Dunman will next play Unity Secondary in the semi-finals. It will be the first time the East Zone champions have encountered the West Zone champions this tournament. The match will take place on Thursday, 16th August, 3pm at Clementi Sports Hall.
Score by Quarter
Anglican High vs Dunman
1st Q: 9-10
2nd Q: 5-4 (14-14)
3rd Q: 10-16 (24-30)
4th Q: 25-21
Final Score: 49-51
Top Scorers
Anglican High
Shawn Toh (#8) — 17 points
Randall Fang (#9) — 15 points
Lai Hao Qian (#5) — 11 points
Li Chuan (#13) — 3 points
Jethro Lim (#15) — 2 points
Alkhalifa bin Mazlan (#14) — 1 point
Dunman
Xu Teck Chong (#11) — 11 points
Choo Tin Liang (#7) — 10 points
Joshua Aias (#13) — 8 points
Mohamed Shukri bin Monof (#10) — 8 points
Darren Ng (#6) — 6 points
Liew Jia Ming (#14) — 4 points
Chng Yaw Hao (#9) — 2 points
Alex Shao (#15) — 2 points
Anglican High Roster
Jordan Ong (#4), Lai Hao Qian (#5), Jovan Teo (#6), Lai Jun Yuan (#7), Shawn Toh (#8), Randall Fang (#9), Alden Phua (#10), Lim Zi Jian (#11), Shaun Lee (#12), Li Chuan (#13), Alkhalifa bin Mazlan (#14), Jethro Lim (#15)
Dunman Roster
Benedict Ong (#4), Nur Hamkah (#5), Darren Ng (#6), Choo Tin Liang (#7), Nor Farhan (#8), Chng Yaw Hao (#9), Mohamed Shukri bin Monof (#10), Xu Teck Chong (#11), Tan Yi Rong (#12), Joshua Aias (#13), Liew Jia Ming (#14), Alex Shao (#15)
National C Division Basketball Championship — full fixtures and results
More photos in gallery next page
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