Story by Chan Hua Zheng/Red Sports. Phots by Dylan Chua/Red Sports.

NYJC #26 goes for a lay-up in transition. He scored a game-high 10 points in the win. (Photo 1 © Dylan Chua/Red Sports)

Wilbur Tan (NYJC #26) goes for a lay-up in transition. He scored a game-high 10 points in the win. (Photo 1 © Dylan Chua/Red Sports)

Singapore Basketball Centre, Wednesday, April 25, 2018 — Nanyang Junior College (NYJC) topped Group C with 49–30 victory over Yishun Junior College (YJC) to advance to the second round of the National A Division Basketball Championship.

With this win, NYJC finished with a perfect 4–0 win-loss record in Group C. YJC finished fourth in the group with a 1–3 record.

NYJC was led by Wilbur Tan (NYJC #26) who scored a game-high 10 points. On the other hand, YJC was led by Loh Wai Hoong (YJC #13), who also scored a game-high 10 points.

Both teams started the game attacking the paint aggressively in a bid for points in the paint. NYJC played “run and gun” style offence that looked to outpace the defence for quick baskets while YJC played at a more controlled pace, probing the defence until an opening presented itself.

NYJC’s defence made the difference, as they swarmed the offence to force turnovers that led to easy fast-break points. At the end of the first quarter, NYJC held a big 18–4 lead.

YJC responded in the second period by tightening up their defence, forcing NYJC into taking low percentage shots. This resulted in NYJC only scoring 8 points in the quarter.

YJC also started to hit their stride on the offensive end, turning in a 10–0 run to cut their deficit to 14–18 with 4:38 left in the quarter.

At half-time, NYJC led 26–17.

NYJC employed a 1-3-1 half-court zone press in the third quarter that led to YJC coughing up several turnovers off the dribble and misfired passes. As a result, they outscored YJC 18–11 in the quarter to extend their lead to 44–28 heading into the final period.

The final quarter turned out to be a low-scoring affair from both sides as they struggled to make shots throughout the entire quarter. YJC only managed 2 points throughout the quarter while NYJC squeezed out 5 points.

Nevertheless, NYJC were able to walk off the court with a 49–30 victory to seal a first-place finish in Group D as well as a second-round berth.

Scoring by Quarter
NYJC vs YJC
1st Quarter: 18–4
2nd Quarter: 8–13 (26–17)
3rd Quarter: 18–11 (44–28)
4th Quarter: 5–2 (49–30)

Top Scorers
NYJC
Wilbur Tan Ming Sheng (#26) — 10 points

YJC
Loh Wai Hoong (#13) — 10 points

NYJC Roster
Avinesh (#4), Yang Kai Xun (#6), Tay Zhi Yi (#7), Liang En Mao (#11), Ng Zheng Wei (#21), Nixon Ng Lixuan (#23), Teo Yi Quan (#24), Zhong Zhu Chen (#25), Wilbur Tan Ming Sheng (#26), Nicholas Quah Yan Hui (#27), Leow Zhan Xian (#28), Lim Yan Rui (#29)

YJC Roster
Vernon Lim (#5), Loh Wai Hoong (#13), Sean Sim (#15), Teo Yu Xiang (#55)

We asked for the full team roster but were unable to obtain it. If you know any of the players that have not been included here, kindly leave a comment below. We will update the roster accordingly.

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