Golds beat Reds to finish third in adidas Nations Basketball League

Story by Koh Yizhe/Red Sports. Pictures by Vanessa Lim/Red Sports.

Catholic High School, Saturday, February 21, 2009 - This time, there was no buzzer beater to peg the Golds team back as they claimed their first hard-fought victory over the Reds 66-62 in the adidas Nations Basketball League.

Both teams came into the match winless after two games and neither wanted to finish as the only winless team in the league.

The match started evenly as each team fought hard to edge ahead with Chua Soon Hua beating Pedro Moschioni at the tip off. Raymond Chong then scored the first points of the match with a jumper to get things going for the Golds.

Both teams proceed to trade points with Pedro playing outstandingly for the Reds, grabbing crucial rebounds and making his presence felt under the basket which allowed him to score many points. Ng Wei Xiang added to the tally for the Reds with dazzling drives to the basket.

Not to be outdone, Khoo Dawei of Golds treated fans to a nice dribble behind his back to set Gerald Toh up for two. The Golds’ powerful center Chua Soon Hua also matched Pedro as he tipped in rebounds for his team.

In an attempt to shake up the game, Reds coach Foo Kwang Hock brought on fresh legs in the form of Lim Qi Xiang, Chua Kang Yi and Lim Fang Cie. But despite that, the Reds wasn't able to pull away, with the scores even with two minutes remaining in the first.

A rebound scramble under the basket at the end of the quarter failed to give the Reds the lead as Golds held them off to take the high-scoring first quarter 25-24.

Tan Hong Kwang got things going immediately for the Golds as he drove to the basket for two. Lim Qi Xiang replied with two of his own and the foul, but he missed the resulting free throw as both teams continued where they left off as they constantly traded the lead.

The Reds continued to make changes, this time bringing on Pedro and Jabez Su. Pedro, however, found it hard to get settled as he was constantly double teamed, preventing him from making a big impact on the game.

Midway through the second quarter, the two big men, Tan Hong Kwang and Pedro, collided, drawing reactions from the crowd.

With their big centre Pedro silenced, the Reds were powerless as the Golds went on to establish a six-point lead, the biggest in the first half.

But Jabez Su was quick to do something about it, driving to the basket for a beautiful layup, followed by a long three-pointer to cut the Golds lead to just one point. He then ended the quarter with a flourish as he intercepted a high pass mid-court, drove to the basket and attempted a layup. Although his layup didn't go in, Johnny Teh was on hand to tip it in.

This kept the Gold's lead to just two points at 42-40.

With momentum on their side, the Reds were quick to draw level and take the lead through Johnny Teh early in the third quarter. There was also a clear improvement in their rebounding which allowed them to break quickly and extend their lead to seven points. Johnny Teh was essential to this as was Ng Wei Xiang.

Dan ‘Van Damme’ Cinco was on fire for the Golds too, as he treated fans to a stunning spinning layup, and then a huge rejection of Ng Wei Xiang. But his efforts were not enough to stop the Reds from extending their lead to 55-48 with 2 minutes 30 seconds remaining.

A Raymond Chong jumper, followed by a layup by Larry Liew finally sparked the Golds into life as they went on a 6-0 run to end the third quarter just one point behind at 54-55.

The final 10 minutes was much slower as both sides began to tire and after five minutes, both teams only scored a total of seven points.

Joshua Neo of the Golds then scored a delightful layup to give his team the lead. Van Damme followed suit as he made one of his own to add to the Golds’ tally as the game began to slip away from the Reds.

Maybe it was fatigue, but the Reds passing began to to go astray and they were slow in defending. On top of that, the Golds’ rebounding was at their peak as they grabbed crucial rebounds at the end to prevent the Reds from making a comeback.

Van Damme capped off a great performance for the Golds with a superb layup to give them a 66-62 victory.

Scoring by Quarters
First quarter: Reds 24 Golds 25
Second quarter: Reds 16 Golds 17
Third quarter: Reds 15 Golds 12
Fourth quarter: Reds 7 Golds 12

Top scorers for Reds
#11 Jabez Su – 12 points
#52 Pedro Moschioni – 12 points
#Ng Wei Xiang – 11 points

Top scorers for Golds
#33 Dan Elvir Cinco – 17 points
#1 Raymond Chong – 10 points
#51 Yuen Wai Yao – 7 points

Player Statistics