Story by Lim Yi Fei/Red Sports. Photos by Lee Jian Wei/Red Sports.

John Lacdao (#4) of Guangyang Secondary goes for the layup against Ngai Yan Tai (#26) of Raffles Institution. (Photo 1 © Lee Jian Wei/Red Sports)

John Lacdao (#4) of Guangyang Secondary goes for the layup against Ngai Yan Tai (#26) of Raffles Institution. (Photo 1 © Lee Jian Wei/Red Sports)

OCBC Arena, Tuesday, February 20, 2018 — Guangyang Secondary (GYS) made their free throws count in the final quarter to outlast Raffles Institution (RI) 56–49 in the second round of the South Zone B Division Basketball Championship.

Gabriel Vince (GYS #24) and Brendan Lee (GYS #12) chipped in 12 and 10 points respectively in the win while Andre Lim (RI #11) led his team with a game-high 19 points. Teammate Samuel Chin (RI #21) added 15 points.

Guangyang won the opening tip and scored the first bucket of the game with a jumper.

In retaliation, Raffles displayed good team chemistry and drew plenty of fouls in the opening 10 minutes to put their opponents in foul trouble.

Undeterred, Guangyang displayed superb ball movement and only trailed Raffles 16–18 after the 1st quarter ended.

Raffles defended cautiously and purposefully, as they never lost sight of the ball and vied hard to regain possession of it whenever they were given the chance.

However, Raffles began to get nervous and failed to convert their shots as Guangyang stepped up their aggressiveness.

Both teams went into halftime tied at 27.

Both teams were inseparable again after 10 more minutes on court, as Raffles and Guangyang scored nine apiece in the penultimate quarter.

Raffles drew clever fouls from their opponents and hoped to regain the lead from the free throw line.

However, their plan backfired when Guangyang extended their lead by playing the game to their pace.

Raffles were unwilling to give up even though they were down and Andre Lim (RI #11) forced the issue on the offensive end late in the game.

Raffles wasted precious seconds before failing to attempt a shot as the shot clock expired and conceded possession to their opponents. Guangyang then went the other way to widen the score.

Andre Lim (RI #11) said, “Despite our loss, my team still fought really hard against the better team. We were leading in the earlier parts of the game but we panicked in the later part, letting the game slip away.”

Raffles’ task was made tougher when point guard Raehan Sanuda (RI #4) fouled out of the game.

Guangyang eventually took home the 56–49 win with a triumphant celebration after a tough fight while their rivals comforted one another on court.

Guangyang’s Captain Jackson Kong (GYS #0) said, “My team gave a lot of energy today. Even when we lost the ball, we just reset our plays.”

“Good job guys, keep it like that,” he added.

“What we need now is more experience. There were many free throws that we could have made but we missed. We could have used that to our advantage to take hold of the opponents to make baskets. We could have fought harder and I believe that even though we lost, we still put in a lot of effort today,” Andre (RI #11) said.

His message to his team, “This loss should not dishearten us. We should continue to work hard and get into the top 4 in the next few games.”

With this win, Guangyang improve to a 2–1 win-loss record with their only loss coming against Mayflower Secondary in the second round. They will play Peicai Secondary next while Raffles dropped to a 2–2 record, finishing with 6 points and 3rd place in Group P.

Scoring by Quarter
Guangyang vs Raffles
1st Q: 16–18
2nd Q: 11–9 (27–27)
3rd Q: 9–9 (36–36)
4th Q: 20–13 (56–49)

Top Scorers
Guangyang
Brendan Lee Jun Hong (#12) — 10 pts
Vallejo Carino Gabriel Vince (#24) — 12 pts

Raffles
Lim Chong Jun Andre (#11) — 19 pts
Samuel Chin Jia Jie (#21) — 15 pts

Guangyang Roster
Kong Chek Shen Jackson (#0), Eugene Ho Zhi Wei (#1), Andy Lim Yu Kwang (#3), Lacdao John Aldrei Cueto (#4), Brandon Ngui (#7), Brendan Lee Jun Hong (#12), Marcus Kok Jia Wei (#13), Nicholas Chua Wee Kiat (#20), Vallejo Carino Gabriel Vince (#24), Kwong Liang Bin (#26), Evan Ang Jia Le (#30), Gideon Rajan S/O Balakrishna (#41)

Raffles Institution Roster
Aresh Kumanan (#2), Raehan Sanuda Bopitiya (#4), Feng Zi Ru (#6), Tan De Bin Barry (#8), Yeo Kai Jie (#9), Lim Chong Jun Andre (#11), Joshua Neoh Jun Li (#13), Samuel Chin Jia Jie (#21), Arjun Kumanan (#24), Ngai Yan Tai (#26), Sng Yin Jun (#28), Chang Chia Yin (#35)

More photos next page