Nanyang Technological University, Wednesday, 14 January 2009 - Republic Polytechnic (RP) completed their IVP women’s basketball Group B fixtures with a 69-64 win over Temasek Polytechnic (TP) at Nanyang Technological University.
The girls in green took control of the game from the first ball when they outscored their opponents to lead 18-11 at the end of the first quarter.
Buoyed by the early advantage, they carried on where they left off in the second quarter as they went on to stretch their lead to 10, the largest gap by either team in the game.
Pivotal to the team’s initial success in defence and attack was their centre Juliana Ang. At the back, she took a no-holds-barred approach, blocking, intercepting and fighting for every rebound against taller opponents.
With the ball, she was the playmaker of the team, setting up attacks for her teammates to shoot and proving to be a handful to the defenders with her aggressive play.
However, a 6-0 run by TP five minutes before half time saw them steadily fight their way back into the match as they eventually saw out the second quarter trailing 27-34.
RP briefly regained control of the match in the third quarter when successive three-pointers from Sheryl Heng and Avis Yap widen the lead to nine midway in the period.
TP stepped up their game to score six points without reply as they narrowed the gap to three.
A flurry of late baskets, aided by Heng’s misses from the free-throw line late in the quarter, saw the scores even at 47-all, setting up a tense final 10 minutes of the match.
Leads were exchanged between both sides in the fourth quarter as the teams tried to gain the decisive edge that would determine the eventual outcome.
That came with four minutes to go with the score at 58-all. Normally a provider for the team, Ang showed her on-court influence when she nailed a jump shot to give RP the lead her team would not let slip.
Accurate free-throws from Tan Chai Luan and Lim Jia Min ensured the ladies in green remain in the driving seat with just over a minute to spare.
With 13 seconds to go and the score remained delicately poised at 64-65 in RP’s favour, Ang aggressively chased after the loose ball and drew a foul from her TP marker to earn two free-throw attempts.
She kept her nerves in check as she coolly nailed home both her throws to virtually win the game for her team at 67-64.
Heng put the result beyond doubt at the final buzzer as she applied the finishing touch with a lay-up from the last play of the game at 69-64.
In the post-match interview, RP coach Ng San Hong was pleased with her players’ performance in the win. “Today the team’s morale was very good and they played more like a team, a steady improvement from their previous (group) matches."
“They worked on their defence to frustrate TP as they were aware they were physically disadvantaged against taller opponents."
“The bench players also stepped up to be counted and looked to be in game mode when they came on, making it a more whole team effort to win the game.”
With all their group matches completed (two wins and two losses), RP are now in a good position to qualify for the 5th/6th playoffs-a potential improvement from their unplaced showing last year, pending on the final round of group matches to be played on Friday.