Story by REDintern Charles Lim. Photos by Lee Jian Wei/Red Sports

Cayman Miguel (#9) of ACS (Barker) shoots against (#24) and Jordon Wong (#14) of Montfort Secondary. (Photo © Lee Jian Wei/Red Sports)

Cayman Miguel (#9) of ACS (Barker) shoots against (#24) and Jordon Wong (#14) of Montfort Secondary. (Photo 1 © Lee Jian Wei/Red Sports)

OCBC Arena, Tuesday, March 20, 2018 — South Zone Champions ACS Barker put up a stellar performance with a 66-38 win against Montfort Secondary School in the Preliminary Round of the National B Division Basketball Championship.

“Personally, I didn’t do well. The team was out of form and I feel that this is our worst game”, shared MSS Captain Laxamana Gio David (MSS #21).

The first quarter saw a close contest between ACS Barker and Montfort, with sharpshooter Laxaman Carlo Lee David (MSS#24) keeping his team in the contest with consecutive 3-point shots that netted him 9 points, narrowing the gap between ACS Barker and MSS at 20-15.

It was a low scoring second quarter as both teams did not manage to convert off various fast breaks and set plays. Carlo (MSS#24) saw himself tightly marked and did not have the space to make his shots.

“Our coach devised their (MSS’s) tactics, and instructed for us to put up appropriate defence to deny their shooters” mentioned ACS Barker Captain Dervin Leiroy Rahandhran (ACSB #11), on how they managed to curb the shooting prowess of Montfort

ACS Barker tore open the score gap in the final minutes of the third quarter with consecutive 3-pointers by Leiroy (ACSB #11), giving ACS them a 11-0 run against Montfort and ending the quarter with a 44-25 lead.

Against the full-court man-to-man defence by ACS Barker, Montfort was unable to respond to ACS Barker’s organized offence and the final quarter ended with ACS Barker further extending their lead, eventually sealing a convincing victory.

This game brings ACS Barker to a 1-0 record in the group stages, and they will face Bukit Panjang Govt. High School in their next game, whom narrowly edged out their opponents Anglican High School with a comeback win of 51-50. Montfort will play against Anglican High, a potential elimination game for both sides.

Scoring by Quarter
ACSB vs MSS
1st Quarter: 20-15
2nd Quarter: 9–4 (29-19)
3rd Quarter: 15-6 (44-25)
4th Quarter: 22–13 (66-38)

Top Scorers
ACSB
Dervin Leiroy Rajandhran (#11) – 15 points
Cayman Miguel (#9) – 15 points
Khant Zay Naing (#8) – 12 points

MSS
Laxamana Carlo Lee David (#24) – 10 points
Bustillo Fint Bernard Galo (#27) – 9 points

ACS Barker Roster
Wesley Wong (#2), Daniel Baking (#4), Dylan Lee (#6), Khant Zay Naing (#8), Cayman Miguel (#9), Dervin Leiroy Rajandhran (#11), Calder Teo (#13), Glen Chiam (#14), Panca (#15), Kuah Zi’En (#22), Jaryl Wee (#26), Xavier Tan (#28)

MSS Roster
Faheem Noor S/O Mohamed J S (#2), Canlas Juan Miguel Garcia (#5), Melvin Grospe Tan (#6), Aniket Mohanty (#7), Dexter Lim Jun Hui (#9), Chrisann Josh Alegre Marquez (#11), Tan Wei Ren Benjamin (#13), Jordan Wong Wei Sheng (#14), Louis Seah Chun Jia (#15), Laxamana Gio David (#21), Laxamana Carlo Lee David (#24), Bustillo Fint Bernard Galo (#27)

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