Nanyang Technological University, Monday, 12 January 2009 - National University of Singapore (NUS) beat Singapore Management University (SMU) 57-38 in their final Group B match of the IVP men’s basketball tournament.

The victory ensured NUS would progress to the semi-finals second in the four-team pool as they await the winners of Group A in the knockout stage.

It was a tense start from both sides as they went all out to prove a point. SMU, already eliminated after two losses in their previous group, had nothing to lose and gave as good as they got against stronger opposition.

After exchanging leads at various moments in the first two quarters, the decisive breakthrough for NUS came less than two minutes from half time.

At 27-26, Choo Xing Ru’s three-pointer extended the lead to four with 1:54 to go. He followed up with another two points just before the buzzer to ensure NUS go into the break with a 32-26 lead.

Last year’s runners-up stepped up their game from the third quarter as their forceful defence and aggressive attack were too hot for SMU who committed turnovers and resorted to fouling in an attempt to prevent a runaway lead.

The energy spent containing the NUS basketballers took a toll on the SMU players as their shooting became more erratic and passing went astray or straight to a white shirt.

With a stronger bench, NUS rotated their line-up to keep their key players fresh and ready to finish off their opponents in the final quarter.

That strategy paid dividends as the exhausted SMU players failed to score a single field goal for more than 12 minutes in the second half until 14 seconds from time.

NUS seized the initiative to stretch the lead to double digits. Substitute Naveen L.P. capped off an impressive team performance with a cheeky dribble before laying up for his team’s final points of the game.

Both the coach and skipper from the winning side attributed the team’s strength in depth for the victory.

“In the third quarter, the quality back-up we had on the bench mattered as the reserves showed that they could replace the more capable starters in the team when called upon,” noted NUS coach Xu Tung Ching.

“The fatigue on the key SMU players showed during that period as they could not adequately recover fast to hit the basket as they did earlier in the game.”

NUS skipper Wong Hui Jie continued: “When we realized that SMU had no real depth beyond a few strong players, we switched to a man-to-man marking system in the third quarter."

“We capitalized on their increasing tiredness with strong defence and hard physical play. Thus we became more effective in stopping their shots while getting as many as we could on the other end."

“Our bench players stepped up tonight and played substantial minutes to keep the momentum going. They brought their respective strengths into the line-up and it showed during the game.”