Contributed by reader

Singapore Basketball Centre, Wednesday, May 6, 2009 – Tong Whye Basketball Club had a narrow victory over Home United with a score of 62-61 in a highly-anticipated National Basketball League match-up between the two teams.

With the win, Tong Whye has now inflicted only the 3rd loss (the other 2 being Chong Ghee and Eng Tat Hornets) on Home United in the NBL ever since Home United started winning the NBL from 2002 till 2008 (6 years straight).

Both teams played with ferocious intensity and speed and it was clear how determined both sides were for the win. The lead was never greater than 7 points and the winner could not be decided until the final second.

The first quarter saw Home United taking a 4 point lead over Tong Whye. It could have been a smaller lead but poor passing by Tong Whye caused unnecessary turnovers. Tong Whye hit a 3 pointer in the final seconds of the first quarter to drop the lead to only 4 points.

The second quarter was low scoring, with Home United and Tong Whye scoring 11 and 13 points respectively, but this was not a reflection of how the quarter went. Both sides were relentless in their attacks but shots were just not falling. At half-time the Home United lead was only 2 points.

The third quarter was all Tong Whye. They took the lead immediately at the start of the third quarter with a 3 point shot but were unable to take a comfortable cushion to break away from Home United. Home United was kept alive as they made their free throws. Tong Whye entered the fourth quarter with a 3 point lead and a mission to defeat Home United.

Tong Whye took a 7 point lead, their largest of the game, in the fourth. However, Home United started to mount a comeback and leveled the game with a 3 point shot by Koh Meng Koon with 4:23 on the clock. Shanmugadas then had a huge block over Pathman, stopping his drive and lay in to keep the game level. Koh Meng Koon hit another 3 pointer to regain the lead for Home United, their first since half-time.

With a minute left on the clock and a 4 point advantage to Home United, Pathman took a big offensive rebound to put the ball back in and make it a 2 point game. He then had a huge 3 point play, scoring over 3 Home United players in the paint and helping Tong Whye to regain the lead of 1 point with 28 seconds left on the clock.

Home United fumbled with the ball and caused it to go out of bounds with 8 seconds left. They looked to foul and got it. Tong Whye then missed both free throws but Koh Meng Koon was unable to get the shot in on the other end.

It was a well-deserved victory for Tong Whye as they played a very good game. The defeat by Tong Whye will put Home United as the runners-up after the preliminary round, with Tong Whye clinching 1st place.

The semi-finals will be held this Wednesday, May 13, 2009 at the Basketball Association of Singapore. Tong Whye will play SAFSA at 1900 hrs, and Home United will go head-to-head with Eng Tat at 2030 hrs.

NUS and Chong Ghee have been relegated and will play in Division 2 next year.

Home United
Jersey #/Name/Pts/ Fouls
4 Mitchell 9 3
5 Alan Lim Shijie 2 5
6 Shanmugadas 7 3
7 Tan Kee Chai Jason 4 2
8 Derrick Aw Chi Tong 5 0
9 Koong Kum Hoong 0 2
10 Koh Meng Koon 17 4
11 Chua Boon Heng
12 Gary Koh Kok Siang
13 Khng En Ning 0 0
14 Wang Weizhi 7 4
15 Teo Chun Hoe 6 4
16 Tay Wee Khong
17 Victor Tan Han Qiang 4 1
18 Melvin Tan Wee Yao 0 0

Total points: 61
Total fouls: 25

Tong Whye
Jersey #/Name/Pts/Fouls
4
5 0 2
6 4 0
7 6 0
8 19 3
9 0 1
10
11 0 0
12 0 0
13 0 5
14 5 4
15 16 3
16 0 2
17 12 0
18 0 0

Total points: 62
Total fouls: 20

Singapore National Basketball League 2009
Men's Division 1 Final Table Standings

Teams/Matches/Won/Loss/Points

Tong Whye 7 6 1 13
Home United 7 6 1 13
Eng Tat Basketball Club 7 5 2 12
SAFSA 7 4 3 11
Min Yi 7 3 4 10
Siglap Basketball Club 7 3 4 10
NUS 7 1 6 8
Chong Ghee 7 0 7 7