ITE battle to 53-51 win over Nanyang Polytechnic to maintain winning streak in mens’ POL-ITE basketball

Story by REDintern Gerald Goh. Photos by Vanessa Lim/Red Sports.

Republic Polytechnic Competition Hall, Monday, August 3, 2009 - The Institute of Technical Education (Combined) (ITE) could count themselves fortunate to scrape to a 53-51 win over Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) in the mens' 2009 Polytechnic-Institute of Technical Education (POL-ITE) Basketball Championship.

Although ITE could take comfort in taking three wins from as many matches, their victory did not come easily. Both sides were engaged in a bruising contest, relying on physical prowess and aggressive play as each side continually met or exceeded their quota of team fouls per quarter.

ITE's Lim Fang Chiang set his team's tone early in the game, driving determinedly down the length of the court past a multitude of players. With NYP players continually forced to foul their opponents, ITE earned two pairs of free throws in quick succession to end the first quarter leading 14-9.

NYP then began the second quarter with more purpose, with Joeson Kunju being hauled down blatantly after stealing a pass in the clear. As NYP pressed hard for the ball, the team fouls began to rack up with alarming speed.

ITE's Lim Boon Kiat then sunk a nice turnaround jumper as ITE went on a 3-1 run, as team-mate Wong Wei Jie continually ran his lungs out for the team. Wei Jie was duly rewarded for his efforts soon enough, looking alert to steal the ball near the end of the second quarter and tearing down the court unopposed to finger-roll the ball into an unguarded net.

Having extended their lead to 29-20, the ITE players began the third quarter as they had ended the second. Fang Chiang found himself missing an easy lay-up after getting on the end of a fast break, but redeemed himself after being fouled while making a basket off the offensive rebound, sinking the resulting free throw to secure a three-point play.

The match began to degenerate into a muscle contest as NYP and ITE began to trade points and fouls, with the score at 45-36 in favour of ITE at the third quarter's conclusion.

NYP's Clarence Leong attempted to rally his team for the final period with sheer tenacity, rebounding with a vengeance as his team went on a 3-0 streak to close the gap to 45-42.

With the chants of ´defence' from the NYP players on the bench ringing in his ears, ITE's Yeo Rong Tian earned himself two free throws with 1:30 left on the clock after barging into his opponent, at best a dubious call by the referee.

The continual NYP pressure saw the scores levelled at 51 apiece with 24 seconds remaining, a result of good rebounding and some brutal defending by the trailing side. As NYP pressed forward to complete the turnaround, ITE's Tan Zhi Hao was fouled with 4.8 seconds left. Zhi Hao duly made both his throws, and ITE hung on to the ball to take the match 53-51.

ITE's Wong Wei Jie did not mince his words after the match. "We were lucky to win; our defence wasn't good enough." After losing out on top spot in last year's competition to Temasek Polytechnic, he added that ‘the team had extra motivation to go all out this year’.