By Lim Yong Teck/Red Sports

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Hanbin (SIM #22) rises above the defence for the layup. Hanbin finished with a game-high 20 points, including six three pointers. (Photo 1 © Lim Yong Teck/Red Sports)

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NUS University Town, Thursday, September 12, 2013 — Singapore Institute of Management (SIM) pulled off a convincing 97–39 victory over Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) in the Singapore University Games (SUniG) Basketball Championship.

SIM completed the 2013 SUniG in dominating fashion, winning all their games to take home this season’s championship.

SIM moved the ball well in the opening quarter, setting up multiple open looks that led to a 16–0 run. SIT looked visibly intimidated by their physically imposing counterparts, and committed multiple turnovers through sloppy ball handling.

After a time-out, SIT players increased their offensive intensity through several drives to the basket but they simply could not convert. With just under three minutes to play, SIT’s Reeve Seah (#5) converted one of his free throws to halt SIM’s run. In the dying seconds of the first quarter, Phua Hong Yuan (#11) nailed a long three to help maintain SIM’s lead at 21–4.

In the second quarter, SIM employed a full court defensive press that generated multiple steals, leading to easy points on the break. SIM’s defence contained SIT’s offensive flow while they went for 34 points to end the half leading 55–8.

After the break, Reeve Seah (SIT #5) took control of the ball and helped open up SIT’s offence, allowing SIT to get several open looks at the basket. The SIT bench erupted upon a three-pointer by Reeve (#5). Not to be outdone so easily,

SIM’s Ng Hanbin (#22) carried the offensive load with four straight three-pointers. Hong Yuan (#11) added a three-pointer of his own to keep SIM ahead. SIM’s offensive barrage compensated for the lack of defence and kept SIM ahead at 77–20 at the end of the third.

Hanbin (#22) nailed another three-pointer to start the final quarter. SIT maintained their composure and put up an impressive offensive display. With Reeve (#5) leading the offence, SIT moved the ball well and found themselves making easier uncontested baskets. On the contrary, SIM soon found themselves unable to connect on open shots. SIT took advantage of the situation and went on to pour in 19 points in the quarter.

With four minutes remaining on the clock, SIM regrouped and utilized a full court defensive press to contain SIT. Raymond Choo (#20) fueled the offence with two consecutive three-pointers and a long jumper and led SIM to a 17–0 run to seal the game.

SIM’s captain Leung Wai Ming (#14) commented: “Like every game, team spirit, encouragement and communication was excellent and this game was no different. We are physically stronger and we had more bench depth but defensive rebounding is our primary weakness in the whole tournament. Even though SIT’s players were physically smaller, they managed to grab several offensive boards and had easy second-chance baskets.”

Wai Ming’s counterpart, Liao Zuliang (SIT #10) said: “We didn’t play our best basketball game. We were simply outplayed and out-hustled by SIM. We couldn’t build up any momentum for the game. There’s still a lot of room for improvement.”

“Since IVP till now, there’s a lot of changes to players and coaches but one fact remains, we had too little trainings. Prior to SUniG, we had less than 10 training sessions with coach Steve. We will begin training earlier and we will definitely be eyeing to qualify for IVP next year,” added Zuliang.

In the upcoming Institute-Varsity-Polytechnic (IVP) Basketball Championship, the top three teams of the SUniG Basketball Championship will face the top three teams of the POL-ITE Basketball Championship in a new round-robin format. With the completion of the SUniG Basketball Championship, the teams that qualify for a spot in the IVP games are SIM, Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and National University of Singapore (NUS).

Scoring by Quarter
SIT vs SIM
1st Q: 4–21
2nd Q: 4–34 (8–55)
3rd Q: 12–22 (20–77)
4th Q: 19–20 (39–97)

Top Scorers
SIT
Reeve Seah (#5) — 13 points (2 x 3-pointers)

SIM
Ng Hanbin (#22) — 20 points (6 x 3-pointers)
Phua Hong Yuan (#11) — 11 points (3 x 3-pointers)
Tan Jin Hong (#83) — 11 points

SIT Roster
Jeremy Liang (#1), Lim Kok Yeow (#2), Lin Kelun Melville (#3), Kenny Yeo (#4), Reeve Seah (#5), Edward Goh Wei Wen (#6), Sim Chun Quan (#7), Pang Yong Sheng (#8), Kok Boon (#9), Liao Zuliang (#10), Victor Goh (#11), Gan Hian Jiun (#12), Benjamin Liew (#13), Jeramy Sng (#14), See Chin Keong (#15)

SIM Roster
Chen Zhihao (#0), Edwin Low (#1), Dallas Wong Kok Yong (#5), Phua Hong Yuan (#11), Lim Yong Teck (#13), Leung Wai Ming (#14), Ong Wei Lin Daniel (#18), Choo Kok Wei Raymond (#20), Ng Hanbin (#22), Koay Zhen Yen Jansen (#23), Zhou Zhen Jie (#34), Woo Tian Wei (#45), Gordon Ho (#46), Tan Jin Hong (#83), Owyong Zhi Xiang (#91)

SUniG Men’s Final Standings
1st SIM – 5 wins 0 losses (5–0)
2nd NTU – 4–1
3rd NUS – 3–2
4th SMU – 2–3
5th SIT – 1–4
6th SUTD – 0–5

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