Written by: Lee Jun Peng, Nicholas
Edited by: Angelina Grace Pandiman
Photos by: Eusoff Works
In a long awaited basketball (M) opening match between Eusoff Hall and King Edward Hall, this game certainly did not disappoint, as Eusoff Basketball came up with a dominating 3-0 victory through a crazy series of events on Monday night, on pace to another finals appearance in this year’s IHG.
This year’s basketball IHG features a 3v3 half-court match, where any shots behind the 3 point line are worth 2 points and shots within the 3 point line are worth 1 point. Shooting fouls award players with 1 free-throw and each free throw is worth 1 point. Each set has a total of 4 players and 3 players can be on the court at any one time. The match consists of 2 5-minute halves, and the winning team would be the team that either scores 21 points first or the team with the highest score at the end of the game.
Set 1: Jovi, Ian, Tien Yu, Oscar (19-8, win)
The opening series featured Jovi, Ian, Tien and Oscar, who were nothing but outstanding in exploiting the defense and finding easy buckets. Eusoff started off with huge offensive firepower, with baskets from Jovi and Ian to put Eusoff up ahead early 8 to 1, but KE responded with consecutive 3 pointers (which counts as 2 btw) right before the halftime buzzer to keep the scoreline a competitive 12-5. Ian must have drank the H2O sponsored by Eusoff SMC during the timeout because he opened the second half with a crazy sequence of buckets to further extend the lead for Eusoff. A right handed drive found 2 men collapsing onto Oscar who made the dime over to a wide open to Ian, allowing Ian to calmly swish the 3 ball to pull the lead away. Ian followed up with a beautiful reverse layup and another cutting layup, and a 3 pointer by Oscar sealed set 1 for Eusoff with a score of 19 to 8.
Oscar getting away from his opponents easily (give chance leh...)
Set 2: Kenjun, Jared, Khan, Denzel (13-7, win)
Next up, set 2 featured the team Captain, Chef Kenjun, alongside Chefs Jared, Khan and Denzel, who started cooking from downtown right from the get go. However, the main theme for this set was the hustle and defense, reminiscent of the grit and grind era of the early 2010s Memphis Grizzlies. Despite being unable to connect the 3 ball, Jared and Denzel found themselves attacking the paint, grabbing consecutive offensive rebounds and tipping in to finish over the smaller KE defenders. Despite being down 2-8, KE fired the 3s relentlessly and attempted to claw a furious comeback, but a beautiful rightie hookshot and-one by Denzel followed by Khan who finished a beautiful layup seals the victory for Eusoff with a scoreline of 13-7. Sidenote: The highlight play wasn’t actually any of the dagger 3s or clutch and-ones but Khan getting blocked while attempting a layup!
Jared literally didn't bat an eyelid as his opponents tried to defend him (wa so cool)
Set 3: Peng Hao, Weng Yew, Darren, JJ (16-6, win)
Finally, to close out the game, set 3 featured a multitude of (self-proclaimed) clutch masters, Peng Hao, Weng Yew, Darren and JJ. The opening trio came out strong early on in the game, with Weng Yew knocking down a 3-pointer and Darren with back-to-back buckets, securing a 7-0 lead. Darren once again came up huge with not only another 3-pointer, but also his solid defense that left KE with pandemic P shots that airballed multiple times. KE attempted to challenge the defending champions, hitting a pair of layups to keep their playoff hopes alive but it was JJ who destroyed the very dreams by slicing through 2 defenders with a sick crossover, and finished strong with an up and under layup attempt. To add the icing on the cake, the breakout performer Weng Yew relentlessly drilled 3 pointers in his opponents face while playing solid defense and crashing the glass for extra possessions for Eusoff to secure the 16-6 victory. From Team Captain, Kenjun added that Weng Yew was definitely the breakout performer for the night, playing “larger than his size, rebounding well, defending well and making big shots after big shots”.
Weng Yew seizes the chance and makes a shot!
To cap off this victory, Eusoff Basketball would be brimming with confidence going into the next match on 17 Jan against PGP at 7.30pm. Catch them live and don’t miss the upcoming action!
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