Story by REDintern Ellis Yap. Photos by Clara Yuan/Red Sports

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Yi Hui (MI #9) driving the ball upcourt. He scored a game-high 18 points. (Photo 1 © Clara Yuan/Red Sports)

Presbyterian High School, Monday, April 27, 2015 — Millennia Institute (MI) defeated Dunman High School (DHS) 54–53 in the preliminary round of the National A Division Basketball Championship.

Despite the win over DHS, MI were eliminated and will not advance to the second round. DHS, MI and Pioneer Junior College (PJC) were tied with a 3–1 win-loss record. However, due to point differentials, DHS and PJC will go through to the next round.

The first quarter ended with MI ahead 14–12. Zhen Yihui (MI #9) scored on a fast break in the opening minutes of the third quarter to extend their lead to 28–22.

Soon after, DHS used a full court defensive press to mount a 6–0 run in less than a minute’s time to narrow down the deficit to three points (28–31). Play became increasingly physical late in the third quarter leading to foul trouble on both ends. Zhen Yihui (MI #9) used his speed, slicing through the defense for a number of layups while causing Dunman High players to foul while trying to catch up with him.

Careless defence got MI into foul trouble in the final four minutes of the fourth quarter while they were leading by 12 points. MI did not control the tempo despite their big lead, allowing DHS to take advantage. DHS were aggressive offensively and shredded the deficit to 53–54 within three minutes.

Chia Kaiyi (MI #8) was fouled after but he could not convert his free throw attempts. A time-out was called by DHS in a bid for a final play, but they were unable to pull it off. The clock expired and MI eventually won the game 54–53.

Zhen Yihui (#9) of MI said, “It was a great team effort with everyone playing their part leading to a better offense on our side, but it was still disappointing as we could not move on to the second round due to the score aggregate.”

Score by quarter
DHS vs MI
1st Quarter: 12–14
2nd Quarter: 4–9 (16–23)
3rd Quarter: 19–20 (35–43)
4th Quarter: 18–11 (53–54)

Top scorers
DHS
(#9) – 16 points

MI
Zhen Yihui (#9) – 18 points (1 x 3-pointer)
Ng Yuan Yan (#10) – 11 points (1 x 3-pointer)

DHS Roster
Shawn Koh (#4), Kenjun Ling (#5), Han Qi (#6), Jordan Chan (#7), Weng Qi Zong (#8), Nian Kai (#9), Shawn Tan (#10), Gifford Chuang (#11), Sng Shao Ye (#12), Hoo Jia Peng (#13), Aw Chian Hao (#14), Zhang Han (#15)

MI Roster
Jasper Wu (#4), Darrell Lim (#5), Darren Chin (#6), Shun Yong (#7), Chia Kaiyi (#8), Zhen Yihui (#9), Ng Yuan Yan (#10), Hang Kai (#11), Patrick Silva (#12), Leon Neo (#13), Ho Zi Jun (#14), Bryan Tan (#15)

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