By Lim Yong Teck/Red Sports and REDintern Rebekah Abbott.
Fang Cie (TP #45) driving against Tien Wei (NUS #1). Fang Cie contributed a game-high 25 points in the victory. (Photo 1 © Lim Yong Teck/Red Sports)
NTU Sports and Recreation Centre, Friday, January 10, 2014 — Temasek Polytechnic (TP) outlasted National University of Singapore (NUS) in a decisive final quarter to win 77–71 on the first day of the Institute-Varsity-Polytechnic (IVP) Basketball Championship.
This season sees a new format for IVP, where the top three teams of the SUniG Basketball Championship will face the top three teams of the POL-ITE Basketball Championship. Teams are seeded into two groups and face each other in a round robin format. The top two teams of each group will then move on to compete in the semi-final and final round.
Lim Fang Cie (#45) had a game-high 25 points while Lim Shengyu (#5) of NUS had a team-high of 24.
Early in the first quarter, the physically bigger NUS players protected the basket well, forcing TP to take shots from outside the paint. TP also seemed a little out of sync, making poor offensive decisions. This allowed NUS to pull off a 10–0 run capped off by an emphatic fast break dunk from Lim Shengyu (#5).
TP regrouped during a quick timeout, with Rudy Tan (#23) leading their offence. Rudy used a quick drive to the basket but chose to dish the ball out to Lim Fang Cie (#45), who drilled the wide open three to bring TP back into the game. NUS did not falter as they continued to outrebound TP, with Shengyu (#5) and Thomas Chua (#34) dominating the boards. TP picked up their pace, both offensively and defensively, and refused to give up. Tay Ding Loon (#32) split his free throws to reduce TP’s deficit to seven points (15–21) at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, TP made up for their lack of physical presence with their speed and continued to push the pace at both ends of the court. Ding Loon (TP #32) made a huge difference, supplying his teammates second chance points with several offensive boards. TP outscored NUS 17–11 to end the first half with the game tied at 32 apiece.
The third quarter commenced with a 9–0 TP run. However, they could not contain Shengyu (NUS #5) on the defensive end. Shengyu’s height and athleticism gave him an edge at the offensive board, providing him with multiple second chance points. Samuel Ch’ng (NUS #22) kept the game close with huge shots from beyond the arc but TP still held a slim one-point lead (48–47) entering the final quarter.
The final quarter was a defensive-minded slugfest that saw both teams executing excellent full-court defensive presses. Rudy (TP #23) and Shengyu (#5) led their respective teams on the offensive end, setting up their teammates for easy baskets. With just under five minutes remaining, Shengyu (NUS #5) managed to steal the ball and drive up court against Ding Loon (TP #32) for the and-one layup. In the process, Ding Loon took an inadvertent elbow from Shengyu to the nose and went to the sidelines bleeding.
The turning point of the game surfaced when Larry Liew (TP #11) connected for a long baseline jumper to spark a 14–0 run. With just under three minutes to play, Ding Loon returned to the game after nursing the bleeding nose to pour in six points to further extend TP’s lead. Shengyu tallied 11 of his 24 points in the quarter alone, including a buzzer-beating three-pointer, but it was not enough as TP finished NUS off with a final score of 77–71.
TP captain Rudy (#23) commented: “Both teams did well and had their fair share of mistakes. It all came down to the coaches’ decisions and how each team countered their opponents’ mistakes. Stamina is the most important factor and we are lucky that Fang Cie stepped up today.”
Rudy’s counterpart, Samuel (NUS #22), said: “It is all about defence. We played good defence in the first half but our defence slackened after. The key turning point of the game came in the second and third quarters where we committed crucial turnovers.”
Both TP and NUS will face defending champions Singapore Institute of Management (SIM) on Tuesday, January 14, and Friday, January 17, respectively. Both games will be played at the NTU Sports and Recreation Centre.
Scoring by Quarter
TP vs NUS
1st Quarter: 15–21
2nd Quarter: 17–11 (32–32)
3rd Quarter: 16–15 (48–47)
4th Quarter: 29–24 (77–71)
Top Scorers
TP
Lim Fang Cie (#45) — 25 points (4 x 3-pointers)
Tay Ding Loon (#32) — 16 points
Larry Liew (#11) — 11 points (1 x 3-pointer)
NUS
Lim Shengyu (#5) — 24 points (2 x 3-pointers)
Ch’ng Yun Kai Samuel (#22) — 14 points (3 x 3-pointers)
TP Roster
Julian Lim (#1), Marvin Foo (#2), Alistier Tay (#5), Sebastian Acosta (#8), Alvin Hartono (#9), Wang Liang Rong (#10), Larry Liew (#11), John Ng (#13), Shamus Poh (#14), Teo Zhen Kai (#22), Rudy Tan (#23), Tay Ding Loon (#32), Jeric Lim (#34), Thng Jun Rong (#37), Lim Fang Cie (#45)
NUS Roster
Tan Tien Wei (#1), Lim Shengyu (#5), Hong Kah Qi (#6), Zhou Xiangyu (#7), Au Jin Kai (#8), Gerrard Lai Changmin (#9), Goh Feng Xiang Gavin (#10), Alwyin Lim Chau Hwee (#11), Tan Zeng Zhi (#12), Liu Zhong Chi (#13), Kenneth Low Bing Hong (#15), Ch’ng Yun Kai Samuel (#22), Ngauw Wei Chang (#23), Thomas Chua Peng Kuang (#34)
2014 IVP Basketball Championship (Men) – Fixtures and Results
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