Written By: Nga Wan Qin Edited By: Valerie Chua & Jolene Wong Photographs By: Eusoffworks
By now, IHG 2k19 is more than halfway done. Majority of our sports teams are done and dusted with this long-awaited battle of the halls. Not for Basketball though, as our Bball bufflords take on their first opponent of the season – one not to be trifled with – Kent Ridge (KR) Hall. Read on, as we delve into the breakdown for each exciting quarter!
The starting line-up for the 1st quarter comprised of Captain Heng Wei, Lai Sheng, Austin, Ashley, and Richard. Right from the start, the odds did not seem to be in our favour as KR won the jump ball and speedily progressed it to their attacking side. Fortunately for us, we had our trusty twin tower defence, Ashley and Richard to block their shot, causing a turnover. Not to let up the honour of being the first team to score, Ashley passed the ball over to trusty Captain Heng Wei, who made a strong drive towards the hoop to attempt a lay-up shot. This did not sit well with the KR players as they were swift to block Heng Wei’s shot, knocking him down in the process! But as I said, Captain Heng Wei is trusty as a rock; he made sure he passed out the ball to Ashley before his butt could even touch the floor! This was followed by a few sharp passes between our boys, before Ashley found the kink in KR’s defence and passed the ball to Heng Wei, who then attempted the all-time crowd favourite 3 pointer shot. The ball bounced off the rim of the hoop and landed in the hands of our opponents, who then attempted a shot at their half. This time, one of our own made a foul on the KR player attempting a shot, and KR was awarded 2 free throws, which they quickly converted into points. We are now down 0-2 to KR. Unfazed by this setback, our boys composed themselves and played on without the anxiety half the spectator’s stand was feeling!
After a couple more turnovers happened without being converted to points, veteran Raymond the Legend, as well as freshie Jason the Bullet was up, subbing Richard and Heng Wei. 10RaymondLoo was quick to contribute to the team, snatching the rebound and passing over to Jason, who speedily attempted a shot, only to be blocked by KR’s impenetrable defence. Luckily for us, we have another twin tower combo of Austin and Ashley putting pressure on our opponents, resulting in their miss pass. Now that the ball was back on our side, Raymond, Ashley and Jason utilized what I like to call “BAMBOOZLE passing”. Basically, they kept passing to each other outside the 3-point line, leaving the defenders scrambling to defend the ball, until Jason saw an opening and went for a 3 pointer and… SPLASHHHHH! The yellow supporters in the spectators stand went crazy as not only was this our first goal, it was a SIK 3-POINTER!
Jason the Bullet breaking past KR defence to put one in the basket
With the Eusoff morale lifted, the boys went on a mad scoring rampage, putting in goal after goal. Raymond was like a ghost on court, being able to teleport to the right place at the right time to make INSANE intercepts that he converted into a 2-point shot. Bosco and Jeremy also made their debut on court while Lai Sheng and Ashley stepped off court. While Bosco and Jeremy were getting used to the play, Austin was unstoppable, making mad tap outs and challenging for rebounds to assist Raymond and Jason. Lai Sheng then came back on court, with Austin stepping off to take a break. This was when Jeremy made a freaking sik intercept near the baseline. On the verge of falling out, he quickly threw the ball back into the court, right into his teammate’s hands, before he fell out of court! Everyone went crazy at how sik that save was! By the time KR called for time out, we were leading 9-2.
After time out, Lai Sheng put in another free throw, before freshies Shao Ye and Hao Hsuan replaced Jason and Lai Sheng. Bosco put in 2 more free-throws, extending the lead to 12-4 by the time the 1st quarter ended.
The 2nd quarter began with Heng Wei, Jeremy, Austin, Ashley, and freshie Kenjun. Kenjun was quick to show off his sharp shooting skills, putting in an easy clean 3 pointer the moment he stepped on court! The ball was now in KR’s possession and Austin put his loooong arms up to block his opponent from taking an easy shot. This reporter doesn’t know how that was possible but it was as if his hands made the 10-feet high basketball hoop seemed reachable??? Unfortunately, KR managed to put in their first 3-pointer despite the airtight defence put up by our ballers. This was followed by another 2 points to KR. Jason came back on court, replacing Heng Wei and swiftly put an end to KR’s momentum by assisting Austin to score a layup! Raymond and Lai Sheng then subbed Kenjun and Jeremy and got to work. Austin drove towards the hoop for a lay-up that missed, but Lai Sheng got the rebound and makes a 3-point play! Raymond then proceeded to show us why he’s Eusoff’s very own Sports D with his many sik intercepts accompanied by fast breaks that left the KR players in the dust! By the time the second time-out was called, the score was 22-13 to Eusoff.
Sports D 10RaymondLoo going in for a sik layup!
The timeout did not hinder our onslaught, as Lai Sheng made a fake to deceive the opponent, successfully assisting Austin in yet another layup! Our boys had such seamless chemistry that they do not even have to turn to know where each other are. Even when one faltered and made a mistake, another would be there to cover up for him. The 2nd quarter ended with a 24-15 to Eusoff.
For the 3rd quarter, Jason, Austin, Lai Sheng, Richard, and Raymond started off the quarter. Lai Sheng made a sharp pass over the opponent’s head to Raymond, who then proceeded to put in a clean 3-pointer. Not to lose out, Richard quickly puts in a 3 pointer of his own, SIKKK! Both teams put up a heck of a performance but KR eagerly closes up the gap to 34-28 OH MY GOODNESS! Thankfully, calm is our players’ middle name as they manage to finish the 3rd quarter 39-30.
The last quarter was the quarter of mad bola interception and scoring rampage. Jason, Ashley, Austin, Jeremy and Raymond started the quarter, with a sik fast break by Raymond that was undeterred by the human obstruction from KR, leading to a 2 points quickie. Jason, Ashley and Raymond “bamboozle passed” to each other, leading to another clean 3-pointer by Raymond (yet again?!). Jason then showed off his guns by throwing a crazy long pass to Ashley who passed to Raymond who scored ANOTHER FREAKING 3-POINTER OH MY LORD RAYMOND IS ON A ROLLLLL! Everyone on court was just siksikSIKKK – Austin had the ball in his hands and was going to go for a lay-up initially but he had 2 defenders tight on him so he dipped his head like once, twice, and SHOOT and SCORE! We had a comedy moment though, when Jeremy stepped on court to sub Austin. Whilst a KR player was attempting a shot, Jeremy jumped to attempt to block the shot, but the KR player syke-d him and did a fake, resulting in Jeremy twerking in the air LMAOOOO. By the time KR called for a time out, we were up 47-34!
Buffetlunch Bosco sinking in his free throws with ease.
After the time out, Bosco came on court and had his moment of glory when a KR player made an unsportsman foul. Spectators were all confused as the referee made all the players stand behind the half-court division line, while Bosco converted his 2 free throws all by himself. The match ended 54-41 to Eusoff. Everyone was just bursting with pride at how our boys defeated such a tough adversary in their very first game.
Following this spectacular victory, our Bball hunks will be facing off TH next on Sunday (03/02) for their 2nd preliminary game. Let’s continue to show them our unwavering support and go down to cheer them on, ONE EUSOFF!
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