Story by Jiexin Neo/Red Sports. Photos by Clara Yuan/Red Sports
Rymond Neo (PJC #5) gets the rebound. (Photo 1 © Clara Yuan/Red Sports)
Singapore Basketball Centre, Monday, April 28, 2014 — Pioneer Junior College (PJC) preserved their 2-point lead in the final minute of the game to beat Dunman High School (DHS) 55–53 in the National A Division Boys Basketball Championship.
Chua Cheng Wei (PJC #9) led his team with a game-high 27 points, while Liau Ming Shun (DHS #11) had a team-high 17 points.
From the first quarter, both sides appeared to be evenly matched as they alternated at scoring, matching each other basket for basket. DHS held a slight 12–9 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter then commenced with Brandon Ong (PJC #10) using a strong drive to the basket to kick off the scoring for the PJC side. Tan Jian Yong (PJC #7) scored another one in the paint to take the lead from DHS (13–12). DHS scored an easy two at the key through Ming Shun (DHS #11) to make it 14–13. Both sides took turns to score until it was tied at 18–18. Then on, DHS began to lose momentum offensively and missed a few shots in a row. PJC capitalized on DHS’s mistakes to take on a 26–22 lead going into the halftime break. PJC outscored DHS 17–10 this quarter.
In the third quarter, DHS attempted to take threes outside the perimeter, but failed to find the range with their shots most of the time. DHS were still unable to get their attacking momentum back midway through the quarter, and thus were down by 10 points at one point. Seeing that, Ming Shun (DHS #11) stepped up his game to lead the team during offensive plays with good passes, and drove in more instead of taking shots outside the key. He chalked up seven points this quarter.
PJC’s Cheng Wei (#9) paced his team during offensive plays by converting well against his defenders. He sank a 3-pointer on the wing, and also took down several offensive boards to provide his team with crucial second-chance points. He contributed nine points this quarter.
DHS managed to reduce the deficit by the end of the third quarter to trail 40–43 going into the decisive final quarter.
Jian Yong (PJC #7) started off the last quarter with a 3-point conversion, but Lim Kang Yin (DHS #5) returned one on the next transition (43–46). As with the first three quarters, both teams continued to alternate at scoring. DHS also started to find their touch to score shots taken outside the paint.
With one minute of regulation time remaining, PJC were leading 55–51, when Hoo Jia Peng (DHS #13) scored on a fastbreak to make it 55–53. The DHS then called for a timeout. After that, DHS had several chances to draw even with PJC, but failed to convert a few scoring opportunities in the paint and were unable to convert a crucial offensive rebound.
Eager to keep their lead, PJC recovered quickly for defence whenever DHS got the ball to go for fastbreaks. With good defensive efforts from PJC towards the end, they eventually kept their 2-point lead to win 55–53 to qualify for the second round of the tournament.
PJC captain, Eng Heng (#6), said, “It’s very close, so it’s nerve-wrecking. But I think we stayed strong together with the supporters. Like what we told ourselves before we came for this game, we are going to stick together no matter what. And we did, we came through together. We wanted to come here and get the win, and we did. I think we did an okay job, but there’s still a lot of room for improvement.”
DHS captain, Ming Shun (#11), said, “It was a close match and both teams fought very hard. It was a pity to lose by two points. Our opponents were very strong, you can see their intensity on court. What’s done cannot be undone, I think we can only look forward to the next match. Hopefully we can get the win.”
Scoring by Quarter
PJC vs DHS
1Q: 9–12
2Q: 17–10 (26–22)
3Q: 17–18 (43–40)
4Q: 12–13 (55–53)
Final score: 55–53
Top Scorers
PJC
Chua Cheng Wei (#9) – 27 points (4 x 3 pointer)
DHS
Liau Ming Shun (#11) – 17 points (1 x 3 pointer)
Pioneer Junior College Roster
Paul Tan Pei Yang (#4), Neo Rymond (#5), Yeo Eng Heng (#6), Tan Jian Yong (#7), Lim Tian Wei Cherwin (#8), Chua Cheng Wei (#9), Ong Jin Jie Brandon (#10), Lim Jin Kai (#11), Darius Chan Rong Rui (#12), Eugene Low Ya Ming (#13), Mun Wai Kin (#14), Mohamad Nazri Bin Mohamad Rashed (#15)
Dunman High School Roster
Ling Xian Xun Kenjun (#4), Lim Kang Yin (#5), Shawn Tan Guang Rui (#6), Sng Shaoye (#7), Aw Chian Hao (#8), Eugene Koh Chee Wei (#9), Tay Kai Xian (#10), Liau Ming Shun (#11), Edmund Chew Guan Jie (#12), Hoo Jia Peng (#13), Qin Tianyi (#14), Low Zheng Yu (#15)
National A Division Boys Basketball Championship — Fixtures and Results
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