Story By Zachary Foo/Red Sports. Photos by Laura Lee/Red Sports

Lee Ko Vic (Unity #8) scores amongst the sea of Bukit Panjang defenders. (Photo 1 © Laura Lee/Red Sports)

Clementi Sports Hall, Thursday, April 17, 2014 — Unity Secondary pipped Bukit Panjang to a spot in the semi-final with a 70–58 win in the second round of the National B Division Boys Basketball Championship. Ko Vic Lee (Unity #8) led all scorers with 20 points, while Jerald Goh (BP #13) paced his team with 17 points.

This is the third time that both teams have faced each other this season. The series was tied at 1–1 prior to this game. Unity won the first matchup in the second round of the West Zone Championship 84–71. Bukit Panjang took the second game, beating Unity in the West Zone final 83–67. With this loss, Bukit Panjang are now out of the competition.

Both teams were evenly matched in the first half. Unity found some success getting the ball into the paint for easy shots. Vignesh (BP #11) did well handling the ball for Bukit Panjang in the period. He was able to pour in six points while manning the point guard duties. Scores were tied at 30 apiece at the half time break.

Bukit Panjang were the stronger side in the third quarter, as Edmund Leong (BP #5) and Vignesh (BP #11) combined for 14 points in the quarter. They bullied the Unity players down low, getting easy put backs from offensive rebounds. They rode a 5–0 run to lead in the closing stages of the period. However, Leon Chin (Unity #14) was able to score a buzzer beater on the break, which brought Unity to within 3 points.

The final quarter saw Lee Ko Vic (Unity #8) dominate in the paint for Unity. He was aggressive on his drives each time, drawing a lot of fouls from the Bukit Panjang players. He scored eight straight points at one point in the game, carrying Unity towards the win. Bukit Panjang did not help their cause by missing their jumpers, which allowed Unity to extend the lead comfortably.

The game ended 70–58 in Unity’s favour. They will now face North Vista Secondary in the semi-final on Monday, April 21 at 2.45pm at Clementi Sports Hall.

Unity top scorer, Ko Vic Lee (#8), said, “We had a very bad start. The turning point of the match came when our team mate picked up the technical foul. We were able to gather together and go for the win. We have many things to improve on leading in to the semi-final, but we fought hard today and we are glad to have won.”

Scoring by Quarter
Unity Secondary vs Bukit Panjang Government High
1st Quarter: 17–12
2nd Quarter: 13–18 (30–30)
3rd Quarter: 11–14 (41–44)
4th Quarter: 29–15 (70–58)

Top Scorers
Unity
Lee Ko Vic (#8) – 20 points

Bukit Panjang
Jerald Goh Jun Hao (#13)- 17 points

Unity Roster
Maung Khant Htet (#4), Thng Yong-An (#5), Caraig John Christopher Bico (#6), Jacinth Figueroa Aban (#7), Lee Ko Vic Ariel Nestor (#8), Tan Min Hui (#9), Foo Jun Lin (#10), Caraig David Martin Bico (#11), Matthew Choo Ming-En (#12), Maverick Jercel E. Dasig (#13), Leon Chin Wei Chen (#14), Shahrul B Ramdan (#15)

Bukit Panjang Roster
Ang Zi Yang (#4), Edmund Leong En Ming (#5), Lim Xiu Wei (#6), Shawn Ee Guan Aik (#7), Dini Matin B Zaini (#8), Shibukawa Youhei (#9), Tan Jia You (#10), Rengarajan Vignesh (#11), Yong Jun Wei (#12), Jerald Goh Jun Hao (#13), Low Wei Jie (#14), Tee Zhi Zhang (#15)

National B Division Boys Basketball Championship — Fixtures and Results

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