Story by Koh Yizhe/Red Sports. Photos by Vanessa Lim

POLITE Basketball Singapore Polytechnic vs Temasek Polytechnic

Edwin Low (SP, #1) pushes back Cheng Yu (Temasek, #1) as he goes for a layup. (Photo 1 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)

Republic Polytechnic Competition Hall, Monday, August 3, 2009 – Defending champions Temasek Polytechnic made it three wins out of three in the boys' 2009 Polytechnic-Institute of Technical Education (POL-ITE) Basketball Championship with a comfortable 78-46 victory over title challengers Singapore Polytechnic (SP).

SP did well to keep pace with the defending champions in the first two quarters, but their defense let them down as TP, who boast players like Ng Han Bin and Richard Neo as well as brothers Jacob and Mitchell Folkoff, ran away with the game. With three wins in the bag, TP's chances of retaining the title looks splendid.

For SP, they are now second from bottom in the table with only a solitary win under their belt.

Both teams exploded at the start of the match as they quickly scored while trying to gain control the early goings. Ng Han Bin landed three three-pointers to establish a quick lead for TP at 15-11 while Lim Wai Sian kept SP in the game as he found open positions effortlessly to make numerous layups for SP.

Both teams then hit a snag in scoring midway through first quarter as TP were unable to extend their lead at the break. They went into the second quarter 15-12 up.

Things went down hill for SP in the second quarter as they struggled to make an impact, finding it hard to make baskets. This allowed their opponents to go on a 12-0 run to start the quarter, prompting a timeout from SP.

Edwin Low came back strong for SP with a driving layup after the timeout to score SP's first points of the quarter, but the timeout failed to do much to change the direction of the game.

Instead, it was Lin Cheng Yu of TP that scored a three-pointer, followed by a long jump shot to give TP a massive 14-point lead at 34-21 going into the half. TP limited their opponents to just nine points in the second quarter.

There was no looking back for TP at this point as they continued to extend their lead in the third quarter. Within five minutes, they increased the gap to 17 points at 46-29 as the game looked out of reach for SP. Precise three-point shooting and dominance of the boards was essential to TP's supremacy of the game.

Much of the same followed in the final quarter as TP's 57-35 lead never looked in danger. They also impressed with more of their accurate perimeter shooting with a total of five consecutive three-pointers scored in the final quarter alone.

SP, in sharp contrast, would consider themselves unfortunate as they were obviously caught on their worst day as they ended the match with a 78-46 defeat.

Mitchell Folkoff from TP, who scored four of the 14 three-pointers throughout the match, felt it was easy for his side.

"It was very easy! During the first couple of quarters, SP's defense held but after that, we were able to make important shots. Although it wasn't our tactic to make so many three-pointers, but this is our strength. Even our centre can make three-pointers. Our defense, rebounding and three-pointers were reasons for our victory for today."

Standings
Temasek Polytechnic – 9 points
Institute of Technical Education – 7 points
Ngee Ann Polytechnic – 5 points
Republic Polytechnic – 5 points
Singapore Polytechnic – 5 points
Nanyang Polytechnic – 5 points

POLITE Basketball Singapore Polytechnic vs Temasek Polytechnic

Alfilail (SP, #90) loses the ball after trying to squeeze through Temasek’s defenders. (Photo 2 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)

POLITE Basketball Singapore Polytechnic vs Temasek Polytechnic

Cheng Yu (Temasek, #1) jumps high to shoot. (Photo 3 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)

POLITE Basketball Singapore Polytechnic vs Temasek Polytechnic

Zhi Kuang (Temasek, #21) aims for the net as a Singapore Polytechnic player moves in to block. (Photo 4 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)

POLITE Basketball Singapore Polytechnic vs Temasek Polytechnic

Jason Kok (SP, #34) moves to block a Temasek player from scoring. (Photo 5 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)