Story and photos by Low Zheng Yu/Red Sports
Toh Yi Cheng (SRJC #21) drive all the way in for two. He led his team with 12 points. (Photo 1 © Low Zheng Yu/Red Sports)
OCBC Arena, Monday, April 17, 2017 — Serangoon Junior College (SRJC) came from behind to get the 42-36 victory over Jurong Junior College (JJC) in the National A Division Basketball Championship.
With this win, SRJC continue their unbeaten streak with a 3-0 win-loss record. They have secured victories against Anglo-Chinese Junior College (ACJC) and Anglo-Chinese School (International) (ACS Int’l) previously and look to continue that streak against St. Andrew’s Junior College (SAJC) next.
Meanwhile, this game drops JJC to a 1-2 win-loss record. They lost to Nanyang Junior College (NYJC) and beat ACJC previously. JJC will play their next game against ACS Int’l.
SRJC had the upper hand at the start, with Ernest Tan (SRJC #14) knocking down two three-point, allowing SRJC to lead 10-9 after the first quarter.
In the second quarter, JJC got into a groove. Andre Ethan Wong (JJC #8) took and made a three and got things going for JJC. JJC played good defense to stop SRJC on the offensive end while they capitalised on their shots. JJC managed to lead 24-15 at the half.
In the third, JJC continued making their shots to increase their lead to 11. However, SRJC did not give up that easily. They mounted a furious comeback. Left wide open, Titus Ong (SRJC #6) knocked down a three as SRJC continued fighting and were able to cut the lead to just five after the third.
Going into the fourth, JJC led 31-26 and looked to hold on to their lead. However, it was SRJC that shone through with their defense. They played hard on the defensive end and capitalised on the turnovers they forced to cut JJC’s lead all the way to one.
With a good defensive play, Toh Yi Cheng (SRJC #21) went coast to coast to make the tough layup to give SRJC the lead. Lim Shi Rui (JJC #11) of JJC answered immediately with a shot of his own to give JJC the lead back.
However, JJC did not communicate on their defensive end which led to a wide open basket for Toh Yi Cheng (SRJC #21) as SRJC took the lead once again. On the ensuing play, Lim Shi Rui (JJC #11) drew a foul and made one of two to tie things up at 34. JJC managed to draw another foul and Bill Tye (JJC #35) made one of two to give JJC the one-point lead.
Not letting that bother them, SRJC went to their full court press defense to try to put pressure on the JJC players to make them fumble the ball and they succeeded. Cheng Kai Hooi (SRJC #13) got a steal and went straight for the layup to give SRJC the lead back.
They managed to play solid defense on one end and Toh Yi Cheng (SRJC #21) drove all the way in on the other and dished to Cheng Zheng Ting (SRJC #12) who made the clutch basket to increase SRJC’s lead to three.
SRJC’s Cheng Zheng Ting (SRJC #12) came up with the good moves to make two more clutch under-baskets to seal the deal. SRJC completed the comeback victory from 11 points down to defeat JJC 42-36.
SRJC captain, Toh Yi Cheng (SRJC #21), commented, “Although they man-marked me throughout the game, my team didn’t really care about that. We just followed what our coach said which was to give me the screen or just to play and go for the shot themselves. We weren’t scared, we gave them a fight and fought hard. Honestly, both our teams had very good fighting spirit and both our teams just fought hard till the end. But what they did especially well was that they really out-rebounded us a lot throughout the game and they remained calm. Their defense was also very strong, but we just kept fighting.”
JJC captain, Lim Shi Rui (JJC #11), said, “The tempo, in the end, was very fast and they started to press us. Our nerves got to us and we didn’t play to our own tempo. We played too quickly which cost us offensively. No matter, it was a good match. Even though we might be out, we will do our best in the next two matches and give the remaining schools a fair fight.”
Scoring by Quarter
SRJC vs JJC
1st Q: 10-09
2nd Q: 05-15 (15-24)
3rd Q: 11-07 (26-31)
4th Q: 16-05 (42-36)
Top Scorers
SRJC
Toh Yi Cheng (#21) – 12 pts
Cheng Zheng Ting (#12) – 10 pts
JJC
Lim Shi Rui (#11) – 13 pts
SRJC Roster
Chew Keng Horng (#1), Martin Chan Jie Kang (#3), Pang Cheng Feng (#4), Ong Chee Shawn Titus (#6), Lim Sheng Xiang (#7), Tan Wei Xuan (#11), Cheng Zheng Ting (#12), Cheng Kai Hooi (#13), Tan Boon Fong Ernest (#14), Edwin Lim Joon An (#19), Wu Shen Chou (Fredy) (#20), Toh Yi Cheng (#21)
JJC Roster
Leon Leong Wee Onn (#2), Alexander Umesh Prabhu (#4), Wong Bey En (#5), Delvin Low Jia Jun (#6), Andre Ethan Wong (#8), John Chia Teck How (#10), Lim Shi Rui (#11), Teo Weijie Nicholas (#15), Nigel Loh WeiEn (#13), Zachary Bryan Chan (#24), Bill Tye Zhi Xuan (#35), Kwok Kang Hong (#93)
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