Written By: Nga Wan Qin Edited By: Valerie Chua & Jolene Wong Photographs By: Eusoffworks
It was one day to the eve of Chinese New Year. Most people had already returned home to celebrate the season of bak kwa, pineapple tarts and receiving ang pao moolah. But not for our basketball hunks, as they confronted our carpark 15 neighbour, Temasek Hall (TH) in the aircon-less, sweltering UTown Sports Hall for their second preliminary game!
Right from the get-go, it seemed as though TH was equally matched in skills with our boys, and this reporter thought that the match would be a close fight. Jason, Ashley, Lai Sheng, and Richard, along with the rest of the supporters on the spectators’ stand watched with bated breaths as Austin challenged the TH opponent for the jump ball. “BEEP!” went the whistle, and Austin missed the ball by the fraction of a hair, giving TH the opportunity to attack first. TH might have been quick to get the ball, but they were not able to hold on to it for long as Jason and Austin went full out Gary Payton mode on them, allowing Lai Sheng to steal the rebound when they failed to score. Jason then dribbled the ball down to the Eusoff attacking side like his life depended on it, and made a hook shot to secure our first 2 points! After which, we stuck to the classic man-to-man defence tactic to put pressure on the TH players. Lai Sheng was the like the King of Rebounds on court – no player could come between him and his balls!
Jason (#6) was outstanding with his dribbles and drives.
After failing to stop Austin from scoring a lay-up, TH called for a time out, putting the score at 4-0 to Eusoff. However, they woke up their idea after the time out and scored a 3 pointer! Refusing to lose out, Ashley attempted a 3 pointer as well, but he missed by the narrowest margin. Our shot at redemption came when our sticky, glue-like defence left TH no opportunity to score as their 24 seconds expired. The quarter ended in a stalemate, both teams having scored 5 points each. This reporter felt extremely uneasy with how close the scores were.
Going into the 2nd quarter, it turned out that our bball hunks had merely not unleashed the dragon yet! 10RaymondLoo kick started the second quarter with his signature 3 pointer shot! Not satisfied just yet, our Sports D made a fade away shot like he was taking a walk in the park (with Jamie)! TH was unable to stop our relentless attacks as we scored shot after shot. Even when Lai Sheng’s attempt at a lay-up was blocked by 2 TH defenders, Awesome Austin gets the rebound and sinks in 2 points from under the net! However, our onslaught was not entirely smooth-sailing. There was a slight hiccup when our players failed to box out a couple of times, resulting in TH being able to get the rebounds from their missed shots, but no matter! Jason stole the ball from his TH adversary and made quick work of it, easily popping it into the hoop. With that, the quarter concluded with a stupendous 23-14 to Eusoff!
Determined to continue their streak, Lai Sheng scored a bank shot almost immediately after the commencement of the 3rd quarter! Jason then went on to flaunt his guns as he made an insane long pass that covered more than half the court to Lai Sheng, who secured another 2 points with the inhumane-like accuracy of Deadshot! The most sik moment happened when Austin leapt to make a shot, saw a TH defender en route to block his shot, spun in mid-air to avoid the defender’s reach… and made a bank shot! It was like a scene out of a movie, where the hero of the film here was Austin, O.M.G!
Friendly giant Austin going in for an underbasket!
After which, our all-star team embarked on area defence to counter the TH offensive team, and Big Boi Bosco showed us what his routinely late-night gym sessions were for, as he jumped with Herculean strength 3 meters off the ground to get the rebound and fast break down the court. It was clear our boys were dominating the match as TH called for time out when the score reached 33-16 to us.
When our hunks came back on court, Captain Heng Wei kept our spirits high as he made a beautiful overhead pass to Austin, who then scored an effortless 2 points. It was clear that the time out made no difference to our unfaltering influx of points. Lai Sheng casually tapped a rebound to Heng Wei, who made a sharp pass to Kenjun, who then made a fast break to secure a lay-up, and this all happened in the time this reporter could say “SIK, what the BEEP”! The quarter ended with an all-time-high lead of 41-22.
By the 4th quarter our boys had their eyes on the prize and just swooped in for the kill. Jason’s reflexes were as fast as a hummingbird’s, tapping the ball away from his TH counterpart’s intended target to secure a lay-up shot. There was a momentary lapse in our defence as supporters kept shouting “box out” when we failed to get the rebound 3 consecutive times, but our boys quickly learned from their mistakes and Lai Sheng resumed his title as the Rebound King, which Austin easily converted to a bank shot. Captain Heng Wei tried to impress us as he bulldozed straight towards the hoop but almost fell when a TH player kneed him! This did not sit well with the referee as he awarded Heng Wei 2 free throws, both of which Heng Wei sunk in with ease.
Towards the end of the quarter, Beast Raymond BANKAI and made a SIK intercept and scored a lay-up even with 3 TH defenders holding him down! He made it a 3 point play when the referee awarded him a free throw for the foul committed while he was trying to score. The last quarter ended 58-37 to Eusoff, and it was a pretty dang sik comeback from the 1st quarter.
This victory definitely did not come easy, and it was a well-deserved win as our boys put up a hell of a fight to win with such gusto. Up next will be their semi-finals. It will not be an easy journey, but nothing worth having comes easy, so let us continue to support them. JY BBALL HOTTIES and HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR TO ALL!
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