New Town see off Peirce challenge to register first win in National B Division basketball

By Les Tan/Red Sports

Jurong West Sports Hall, Monday, March 23, 2009 – New Town Secondary got their National B Division Basketball Championship campaign off to a winning start with a 61-56 win over Peirce Secondary.

Peirce, who finished fourth in the South Zone championship, trailed by seven points in the first quarter and even took the lead briefly in the second. Despite keeping pace with the West Zone champions and tying it up a few times in the final two quarters, they did not find enough quality to put them over the top.

A 3-pointer by Hadi of Peirce tied it up 36-36 with 51 seconds left in the third quarter and moments later teammate Tay Kok Ping (#12) found himself free under the basket for an unimpeded attempt. However, he couldn’t sink it and New Town walked off at the end of the third quarter fortunate not to be two points behind.

In the fourth quarter, another 3-pointer by Hadi made it 43-43 but New Town put together a scoring streak that included a Lor Weng Siang 3-pointer to build an eight-point lead at 51-43.

With less than a minute left on the clock, Jerry Toh (Peirce, #7) dropped a 3-pointer that brought his team to within a point of New Town at 56-57. However, New Town shut the door on Peirce with Lor Weng Siang driving to the basket to ensure a 61-56 victory.

“New Town are a tough opponent and hard to defeat,” said Hadi of Peirce. “They played very well, especially their #8 Lee Shi Hao and their controller #9, Weng Siang.”

New Town next play Seng Kang while Peirce will take on Dunman on Monday, March 30th, at Jurong West Sports Complex. The game will tip off at 1.30pm.

Top Scorers
New Town
Lee Shi Hao (#8) – 23 pts (3 x 3-pointers)
Lor Weng Siang (#9) – 15 pts (2 x 3-pointers)

Peirce
Royson Quek (#5) – 12 pts
Lowell Leong (#10) – 10 pts (1 x 3-pointers)
Hadi (#15) – 11 pts (2 x 3-pointers)

Peirce Lineup
Kok Tiong (#4)
Royson Quek (#5)
Lee Zuo Kuan (#6)
Jerry Toh (#7)
James Cheong (#8)
Tan Bai Yong (#9)
Lowell Leong (#10)
Lee Meng Da (#11)
Tay Kok Ping (#12)
Cheng Kam Ler (#13)
Kent Wong (#14)
Hadi (#15)

New Town Lineup
Shi Jie (#4)
Trevor (#5)
Jie Loon (#6)
Shamir (#7)
Lee Shi Hao (#8)
Lor Weng Siang (#9)
Hong Kai (#10)
Amir Irfan (#11)
Hubert Neo (#12)
Isaac (#13)
Chin Heng (#14)
Jun Jie (#15)

For more results, go to the SCHOOL FIXTURES & RESULTS page.

For more pictures, visit the gallery.

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