Story by REDintern Gabriel Goh. Photos by Clara Yuan/Red Sports

BBALL-ADIV-BOYS-YJC-VS-NYJC-5

(NYJC #8) goes for a layup. (Photo 1 © Clara Yuan/Red Sports)

Singapore Basketball Centre, Wednesday, April 9, 2014 — Yishun Junior College (YJC) edged out Nanyang Junior College (NYJC) in a hard-fought 49-43 opening win in the first round of the National A Division Basketball Championship.

Sherman Lim (YJC #13) scored a game-high 18 points while team captain Devin Tan (YJC #10) had 13 points. (NYJC #6) registered a team-high 17 points.

Leading from start to finish in the game, YJC worked hard to close down their opponents quickly on court. With an eight-point deficit during the first half, the NYJC coach called a timeout to get his team back in action. Before the first half ended, NYJC had worked their way back in contention for a win with their tenacity in defence and ruthlessness on the ball. From 0–8 down, NYJC scored 11 points straight in the second quarter (11–16). In the meantime, Devin Tan (YJC #10) led his team with impressively accurate shots.

The high tempo game continued in the second half. NYJC responded in the second half with a little more aggression on the ball whenever YJC brought the ball beyond the half-court. Devin Tan (YJC #10) was again instrumental in dishing out some neat passes to his teammates while Sherman Lim (YJC #13) followed through to make six free throws to chalk up more points. The final quarter saw rash challenges at both ends and NYJC were also forced to shoot from the outside because of YJC’s aggressive defensive plays.

YJC captain, Devin Tan (#10), said, “We really trained very hard just to win the game, practising more since most of us are players with not much experience. Today was a good fight.”

YJC will meet Serangoon Junior College next on Thursday, April 17, while NYJC will play Dunman High on Monday, April 21.

Scoring by Quarter
YJC vs NYJC
1st Q: 8–0
2nd Q: 8–11 (16–11)
3rd Q: 13–10 (29–21)
4th Q: 20–22 (49–43)
Final score: 49–43

Top Scorers
YJC
Sherman Lim (#13) – 18 points
Devin Tan (#10) – 13 points

NYJC
(#14) – 17 points

Yishun Junior College Roster
We asked for, but did not receive the names of the players. If you recognize any of them, please leave a comment and we will update the post. Thank you!

Nanyang Junior College Roster
We asked for, but did not receive the names of the players. If you recognize any of them, please leave a comment and we will update the post. Thank you!

2014 National A Division Boys Basketball Championship – fixtures and results

More photos next page