Story by Chan Hua Zheng/Red Sports. Photos by Dylan Chua/Red Sports.

Tang Kah Wai (PHS #10) goes for a lay-up in traffic on his way to a 24-point performance against Fairfield Methodist. (Photo 1 © Dylan Chua/Red Sports)

Tang Kah Wai (PHS #10) goes for a lay-up in traffic on his way to a 24-point performance against Fairfield Methodist. (Photo 1 © Dylan Chua/Red Sports)

OCBC Arena, Thursday, March 29, 2018 — Presbyterian High School (PHS) flipped the switch in the second half where they dominated on both ends to pull off a 61–46 victory over Fairfield Methodist School (FMS) in the second round of the National B Division Basketball Championship.

Presbyterian High now has a 1–0 win-loss record in the second round while Fairfield fall to a 0–1 record.

“We did not defend well in the first half. We played better defensively in the second half as we defended well against their bigs and did not foul much,” commented Tang Kah Wai (#10), who poured in a game-high 24 points.

Kovan Toh (PHS #5) added 14 points for Presbyterian High.

On the other hand, Fairfield were led by strong performances from Russell Lim (FMS #12) and Carl Belanger (FMS #22), who scored 15 points and 14 points respectively.

Both teams unleashed a “run and gun” offence right out of the gate as both sides looked to play at an uptempo pace and score before the defence could settle down. On defence, both sides held up well against their opposition’s half-court set plays as both sides struggled to score off their half-court offence.

Fairfield managed to grab an 8–3 lead with 4:26 remaining after Chiam Ming Yao (FMS #1) converted a sick double-clutch lay-up after avoiding two defenders in the air.

However, Presbyterian High retaliated with a 7-0 run over the remainder of the period and grabbed a slim 10–8 lead to end the quarter after Tang Kah Wai (PHS #10) drained a deep three-pointer to beat the shot clock.

The second quarter saw both sides engage in a point war as both sides tallied 10 points apiece. Presbyterian High entered the half-time break with a slim two-point lead over Fairfield.

Presbyterian High would step up defensively after the half-time break, where they hustled hard on defence to intercept passes to ignite fast-breaks and contest shots from Fairfield.

On offence, Presbyterian High relied on Tang Kah Wai (PHS #10) as their go-to-guy, as he poured in 10 of his 24 points in the period.

On the other hand, Fairfield struggled against the swarming Presbyterian High defence. However, they made up for it through their grit and hustle as they earned their points from offensive put-backs and free-throws as they aggressively attacked the paint and crashed the boards.

At the end of the third quarter, Presbyterian High would pull ahead for a 37–29 lead.

Presbyterian High would start off the final period with a quick 6–2 run to grab a 47–33 lead with 7:36 remaining.

Fairfield would respond in a way that befits the “Pure Grit, Honest Hustle” slogan on their warm-up shirts, as they turned up a notch on both ends of the floor to roar back with a 9–0 run to swing the momentum of the game in their favor and cut their deficit to just five points with 4:41 remaining.

Unfortunately, Fairfield were unable to maintain their momentum as Presbyterian High responded with lockdown defence to snuff out Fairfield’s offensive production and out-scored Fairfield 14–4 over the remainder of the game.

At the final buzzer, Presbyterian High walked off with a 61–46 victory after holding off a gritty Fairfield squad.

Scoring by Quarter
PHS vs Fairfield
1st Quarter: 10–8
2nd Quarter: 10–10 (20–18)
3rd Quarter: 17–11 (37–29)
4th Quarter: 24–17 (61–46)

Top Scorers
PHS
Tang Kah Wai (#10) — 24 points
Kovan Toh (#5) — 14 points

Fairfield
Russell Lim (#12) — 15 points
Carl Belanger (#22) — 14 points

Fairfield Roster
Chiam Ming Yao (#1), Ang Tze Haw (#4), Jonathan Ang (#9), John Vannan (#10), Russell Lim (#12), Jin Sheng De (#15), Carl Belanger (#22), Clarence Soh (#27), Tan Wen Jun (#31), Jeremy Graves (#33), David Chong (#36)

PHS Roster
Constantin Lim (#3), Ivan Kau (#4), Kovan Toh (#5), Thomas Lor (#7), Tang Kah Wai (#10), Foo Yong Ming (#12), Goh Yi Xiang (#13), Jaron Ng (#15), Dylan Lee (#20), Gifford Chua (#21), Aaron Chaw (#26), Reuben Ng (#35)

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