By Joseph Lee/Red Sports
Yap Ching Poh (NTU #13) taking a jumper to draw first blood for NTU. He finished the game with 12 points. (Photo 1 © Joseph Lee/Red Sports)
NUS Multi-Purpose Sports Hall 5, Thursday, October 4, 2012 — The Nanyang Technological University (NTU) overpowered the Singapore Institute of Management (SIM) in a convincing 62-42 win to complete a sweep of both the men’s and women’s basketball titles in the 2012 Singapore University Games (SuniG).
Darren Liau (#10) of NTU finished with a game-high 17 points while Teh Kaiyuan (#6) of SIM had a team-high 16.
Both teams came into the final match of the round-robin tournament undefeated and the winner of this game would walk away with the champions crown.
NTU were favourites to win the SUniG title with a formidable line-up that included players from the national squad. NTU also had Wong Wei Long and Lim Wai Sian of the Singapore Slingers to strengthen the squad even further.
NTU drew first blood with a mid-range jumper by Yap Ching Poh (#13) followed by Darren Liau (#10) scoring a 3-pointer to take a quick 5-0 lead. But SIM quickly replied to bring the scores to 5 a piece. But NTU started to pull away with the speed of their play, with Wong Wei Long’s (#27) many quick passes allowing his teammates to have open shots and easy lay-ups to the basket. A 7-0 NTU run soon saw them lead 12-5.
NTU continued on the offence but SIM exploited their defensive loop holes late in the quarter as they pressed the NTU inbound passes to get a few steals through Teh Kai Yuan (SIM #6) who set up fast break attempts. SIM came back to close the gap to three points. An easy shot under the basket was converted by Kuo Tzu Wei (NTU #3) to give his team an 18-13 lead at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, things slowed down as both teams were now familiar with the strengths and weaknesses of their opponents. The teams swapped out their starting five for other bench players and tried to penetrate their opponents’ paint to get higher percentage shots nearer the basket.
NTU outscored SIM 8-6 in the second quarter to end the half leading by seven points at 26-19.
The third quarter saw NTU blow SIM out of the water as they extended their lead by a mile. NTU’s hot shooting form made it hard for SIM to answer in reply. NTU found many open shots in the quarter and had numerous fast break chances as they grabbed defensive rebounds as SIM missed shots from long range.
NTU started to pull away slowly and led by 10 points at 48-31 at the start of the fourth quarter.
The final quarter was a hard one for SIM as they tried to fight back and cut the NTU lead. While they played their hearts out, the deficit was just too large for them and they eventually went down 42-62.
“Today’s win was a great one, experience was on our side compared to the opponents. Having people like Wong Wei Long and Lim Wai Sian added the vital experience the team need, which helped us in our win,” said NTU coach Joe So.
SIM coach Choo Hoo Sen was aware of the NTU squad strength, saying just before the match: “The odds are stacked up against us today, with NTU having national squad players and a few Singapore Slingers, it would be a tough fight for us with the lack of experience. But the boys will still put in their best and hope for the best results. Coming this far was already an achievement itself for the boys.”
The National University of Singapore and the Singapore Management University finished third and fourth respectively in the tournament.
Scores by Quarter
NTU vs SIM
1Q: 18-13
2Q: 8-6 (26-19)
3Q: 22-12 (48-31)
4Q: 14-11 (62-42)
Final Score: 62-42
Scorers
SIM
Teh Kaiyuan (#6) — 16 pts
Leung Wai Ming (#14) – 13 pts
Tan Ying Xian Gregory (#8) – 4 pts
Wong Jia Wei Gabriel (#10) – 2 pts
Phua Hong Yuan (#11) – 3 points (1 x 3-pts)
Koay Zhen Yen Jansen (#12) – 4 pts
NTU
Darren Liau Chang Feng (#10) – 17 pts (3 x 3-pts)
Yap Ching Poh (#13) – 12 points
Kuo Tzu Wei (#3) – 8 pts
Zee Kin Meng Andrew (#14) – 6 pts
Lee Kheng Yuen (#12) – 5 pts (1x 3-pts)
Kelvin Yeo Chee Wen (#21) – 3 pts (1x 3-pts)
Teo Chun Hoe (#31) – 5 pts
Loy Shing Yong (#17) – 2 pts
Lim Wai Sian (#33) – 2 pts
Wong Wei Long (#27) – 1 pt
Chen Jia Hong (#35) – 1 pt
SIM Roster
Edwin Low Kwok Keng (#1), Tan Yu Zhong Jeffery (#5), Teh Kaiyuan (#6), Tan Ying Xian Gregory (#8), Seah Zee Hian Daryl (#9), Wong Jia Wei Gabriel (#10), Phua Hong Yuan (#11), Koay Zhen Yen Jansen (#12), Seah Jin Long (#13), Leung Wai Ming (#14), Ng Kah Siang (#15), Jason Wong (#17), Ong Wei Lin Daniel (#18), Lim Yong Teck (#22), Heah Kuang Sheng Xavier (#26)
NTU Roster
Kuo Tzu Wei (#3), Wu Yin Hai (#4), Darren Liau Chang Feng (#10), Lee Kheng Yuen (#12), Yap Ching Poh (#13),
Zee Kin Meng Andrew (#14), Wong Yong Kang (#15), Loy Shing Yong (#17), Kelvin Yeo Chee Wen (#21),
Choon Hao Wei (#22), Wong Wei Long (#27), Teo Chun Hoe (#31), Lim Wai Sian (#33), Chen Jia Hong (#35),
Thomson Liu Junxin (#96)
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