Story By Zachary Foo/Red Sports. Photos by Lim Yong Teck/Red Sports and REDintern Rebekah Abbott
Yong Kang (NTU #16) brings the ball up against Remus (NYP #99). Yong Kang led all scorers in the game with 13 points. (Photo 1 © REDintern Rebekah Abbott)
NTU Sports and Recreation Centre, Friday, January 10, 2014 — In a see-saw battle, Nanyang Technological University (NTU) hung on in the final quarter to eke out a 53–51 win against Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) in the opening game of the Institute-Varsity-Polytechnic (IVP) Basketball Championship.
Wong Yong Kang (NTU #16) led all scorers with 13 points, while Loh You Ren (NYP #1) had nine points to pace his team.
This season sees a new format for IVP, where the top three teams of the Singapore University Games (SUniG) Basketball Championship will face the top three teams of the Polytechnic-Institute of Technical Education (POL-ITE) Basketball Championship. Teams are seeded into two groups and face each other in a round-robin format. The top two teams of each group will then move on to compete in the semi-finals and final.
The first quarter was extremely fast-paced, as both teams ran fast breaks at every opportunity. NTU had a hot shooting start, as they nailed most of their jumpers early on. Wong Wei Long (NTU #1) played a huge part in that, as he marshalled the offence well, distributing the ball to players for open looks. NYP’s defence looked flustered at the start, as their players did not rotate fluidly, leading to NTU scores. On offence, NYP were extremely aggressive on their drives to the basket, however they were unable to convert their shots. This led to NTU building an early 16–6 lead at the end of the quarter.
NYP got their engines running in the second quarter, as they came out of the break completely revitalised. NYP put together a 15–3 scoring run to start the quarter, Remus Low’s (NYP #99) two free throws giving them their first lead of the game. Delvin Goh (NYP #77) was dominant on the defensive boards, using his physicality to box out NTU players and corralling NTU’s missed shots. NTU’s offence was flowing well with Wei Long (NTU #1) at the helm but bad finishing allowed the lead to slip from their grasps. The half ended with NYP leading 28–27.
In the third quarter, NTU made a strategic shift which turned the tide of the game, Yong Kang (NTU #16) moved from his usual spot at the low post to play on the perimeter, creating a dilemma for his marker Delvin (NYP #77). Every time Yong Kang was out on the perimeter, he would be free as Delvin’s responsibility was to cover the paint for NYP. This led to easy scores for Yong Kang, as he nailed a jumper and a 3-pointer in the quarter, both times with Delvin failing to close out on him.
In the midst of NTU’s dominance in the quarter, Delvin (NYP #77) managed to upstage everyone, rising up to swat away a shot that drew cheers from the crowd. The bug that plague NYP’s offence at the start of the game returned in the third quarter, as players settled for bad shot attempts, which ended in misses. This resulted in NYP putting up a six-point quarter, putting themselves back in the hole that they dug themselves out of in the second quarter.
Coming into the final quarter, NTU seemed to be on cruise control and looking to close out the game. However, fatigue started to set into the team as evidenced by two air balls to open the quarter. You Ren’s (NYP #1) tough lay-up on the break galvanised NYP into making a comeback. Their defensive intensity increased dramatically, while they settled for easy shots on offence.
With a minute left to play, NYP reduced the deficit to a single point with Wong Keng Yang (NYP #88) making the nice reverse lay-up along the baseline. But all that effort came to naught in the final 30 seconds, as NYP allowed NTU to drain precious seconds from the clock before fouling Wei Long (NTU #1) with about five seconds left. After sinking one free throw, NTU managed to stifle NYP’s final shot attempt and secured their first win in the tournament.
NYP’s captain, Kah Yong (#14), said: “I think that since it was the first game today, our team was both nervous and excited. We were unprepared because we had some commitments to fulfill, but I think we did quite well in the game. The spirit of the team was commendable. We were in a hole as the substitutes could not gel with the starters initially, but our coach inspired us to make the comeback. Everyone got fired up, which allowed us to pull back in the final quarter. I feel that we are the underdogs coming into this tournament, we will try to qualify for the semi-finals by getting past RP.”
NTU’s captain, Andrew Zee (#14), said: “I think our half-court defence was good today, we communicated very well. Lao Lao (Lim Wai Sian NTU #2) did a good job of keeping Delvin (NYP #77) in check the whole game. However, we managed to let go out two 10-point leads and we have to maintain our pace on offence to prevent that in future games. In the last quarter, we should have been more careful with the ball because the scores off turnovers allowed NYP back into the game. The biggest issue we had was with our transition defence – we allowed them to score way too easily. We have to stop the ball before the players even have a chance at a lay-up attempt. Our goal for this season is to be the champions, although it is tougher without Ah Bao (former captain Yap Ching Poh). We know we can do it.”
Both NYP and NTU will face Republic Polytechnic (RP) on Tuesday, January 14 and Friday, January 17 respectively. Both games will be played at NTU Sports and Recreation Centre.
Scoring by Quarter
NYP vs NTU
1st Quarter: 6–16
2nd Quarter: 22–11 (28–27)
3rd Quarter: 6–19 (34–46)
4th Quarter: 17–7 (51–53)
Top Scorers
Nanyang Polytechnic
Loh You Ren (#1) — 9 points
Delvin Goh (#77) — 8 points
Nanyang Technological University
Wong Yong Kang (#16) — 13 points (1 x 3-pointer)
Zee Kin Meng Andrew (#14) — 9 points
Nanyang Polytechnic Roster
Loh You Ren (#1), Loh Yi Ren (#2), Gordon Loy (#3), Yeow Yong Chin (#4), Ian Valentino (#7), Slyvester Foo Wei Jie (#9), Jerald Lim (#13), Ang Kah Yong (#14), Jason Tan (#23), Kenny Wong Ji Wei (#26), Lim Swee Hock (#29), Ng Wei Xiang (#66), Delvin Goh (#77), Wong Keng Yang (#88), Remus Low (#99)
Nanyang Technological University Roster
Wong Wei Long (#1), Lim Wai Sian (#2), Lim Yan Ming (#6), Chen Jiahong (#7), Nai Chiau Kwang (#8), Pek Jia Rong (#9), Kelvin Yeo Chee Wen (#10), Donovan Tan Cheng Ye (#11), Chua Kian Kok (#12), Zee Kin Meng Andrew (#14), Chan Li Zhong (#15), Wong Yong Kang (#16), Koh Chee Siang (#17), Kua Hiong Yong (#19), Thomson Liu Junxin (#20)
2014 IVP Basketball Championship (Men) – Fixtures and Results
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