Story by REDintern Samantha Yom. Photos by Dylan Chua/Red Sports.

Maran Markus (NAS #33) rises for a shot in the paint. He bagged a game-high 23 points against Fairfield Methodist. (Photo 1 © Dylan Chua/Red Sports)

Maran Markus (NAS #33) rises for a shot in the paint. He bagged a game-high 23 points against Fairfield Methodist. (Photo 1 © Dylan Chua/Red Sports)

OCBC Arena, Tuesday, March 20, 2018 — ‘Pure grit, honest hustle’ were the words emblazoned on the shirts of the Fairfield Methodist School (Secondary) [FMSS] team and it was these four words that perfectly encapsulated their attitude on court.

With sheer tenacity, they defeated Ngee Ann Secondary School (NAS) 56–52 in their first Preliminary Round match of the National B Division Boys’ Basketball Championship – a thrilling game that had both teams neck-and-neck in the final quarter.

Despite their remarkable spirit, Fairfield’s captain Jonathan Ang (FMSS #9) was still critical about their performance.

“We were a bit sloppy and weren’t quite warmed up for the game today,” he commented.

Perhaps that was more obvious in the first half of the game, which saw Fairfield having to play catch-up in the opening moments of the game.

Ngee Ann’s Anson Yeo (NAS #78) sank the opening shot with a fast break lay-up to give his team an early lead. However, their promising start was short-lived as a series of quick turnovers and loose balls allowed Fairfield to take the lead thanks to a trey scored by Chiam Ming Yao (FMSS #1).

The first quarter ended with Fairfield eight points ahead with a scoreline of 16–8.

Fairfield went on to extend their lead to nine points in the second quarter, but soon struggled with their shooting accuracy, which allowed Ngee Ann to cut their lead to just three points. Luangboriboon Son (NAS #35) made it a 26–25 ball game after making both of his free-throws to close the quarter.

The third quarter opened with Lain Sang (NAS #24)’s field goal, which put Ngee Ann back in the lead. That did not last for long as Fairfield found their scoring rhythm, with Jin Sheng De (FMSS #15) and Carl Belanger (FMSS #22) sinking the next two baskets to put Fairfield back in the lead.

In fact, Carl (FMSS #22), who was the highest-scoring Fairsian, was commended by captain Jonathan (FMSS #9) for his sterling performance on court.

“During the crucial moments of the game, we all tried to stay calm and play our best, but it was Carl who shone through and managed to get a lot of rebounds for us,” shared Jonathan (FMSS #9).

Only four points (35–31) separated the teams by the end of the third quarter and the next saw Ngee Ann inch their way closer to a tie, as the team began to display solid passing and teamwork.

And then there was a rallying cry by a boy in black.

“Defend till the end,” the voice yelled in Mandarin. A simple – and possibly familiar – command, yet it was filled with such strength, determination and spirit. And almost instantly, the Ngee Ann players took their places, but this time, they did so with conviction. You could see it from their faces – they were not going down without a fight.

“In the fourth quarter, it wasn’t so much about skill anymore, but about not giving up. Whichever team gave up first would lose so we made sure to persevere to the end,” explained Ngee Ann’s captain Maran Markus (NAS #33).

They definitely did and fought back to tie the game at 40–40. Both teams were neck-and-neck and every effort by Fairfield to breakaway only saw Ngee Ann close in to equalise the score.

With less than 3 minutes on the clock, Maran Markus (NAS #33), who was the top scorer of the match with 23 points, tied the score at 48–48. It was the very last time the score was tied though, as a series of successful free-throws by Fairfield and failed free-throw attempts by Ngee Ann allowed the former to pull away for good.

The final scoreline was 56–52.

Both sides showed remarkable fighting spirit throughout the game. For Ngee Ann, this resilience was something that they developed during training.

“Our team is pretty small, so during our training our coach always emphasises on fighting hard. We’ve done a lot of mental training,” shared captain Maran Markus (NAS #33).

After all, it is in close matches like these that basketball is no longer just a game of teamwork and skill, but also one of the mind.

Scoring by Quarter
FMSS vs NAS
1st Quarter: 16–8
2nd Quarter: 10–17 (26–25)
3rd Quarter: 9–6 (35–31)
4th Quarter: 21–21 (56–52)

Top Scorers
FMSS
Carl Belanger (#22) – 13 points
Tan Wen Jun (#31) – 12 points

NAS
Maran Markus (#33) – 23 points

FMSS Roster
Chiam Ming Yao (#1), Ang Tze Haw (#4), Jonathan Ang (#9), John Vannan (#10), Russell Lim (#12), Jin Sheng De (#15), Carl Belanger (#22), Clarence Soh (#27), Tan Wen Jun (#31), Jeremy Graves (#33), David Chong (#36)

NAS Roster
Adam Tan (#1), Ambrose Quek (#7), Andre Mangahas (#11), Jason Ngor (#12), Lain Sang (#24), Kiyoshi Murakami (#26), Archriz Raven (#29), Maran Markus (#33), Luangboriboon Son (#35), Mika Laurence (#59), Ryan Chan (#66), Anson Yeo (#78)

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