With both squads playing tight right from the start, Singapore showed poise down the stretch to come out victorious against Vietnam, 73-60, in the 2017 SEABA Championships Thursday night at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
Singapore concluded their campaign in the regional contest with a record of 2-4, and will go home as the fifth-placers of the tourney. The Vietnamese side, on the other hand, finished their run as the sixth-placed team with a 1-5 card.
Singapore deployed a balanced attack in the win. Delvin Goh finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Leon Kwek flashed his all-around brilliance also with 15 markers to go along with seven rebounds and six assists.
Trailing by five, 56-51, midway into the payoff period, the Singaporeans exploded to a 12-0 run punctuated by a Larry Liew lay-up and-one play to turn the deficit to a seven-point advantage, 63-56, with 4:32 left to play.
Back-to-back three-pointers from both wings courtesy of Wong Wei Long and Larry Liew helped Singapore taste their first-ever double-digit lead, 69-58, with 1:38 left to play, and those shots were the dagger to send down Vietnam.
Liew added 15 markers spiked by five treys for the Singaporeans, while Lyon Chia supplied 10 markers.
Trieu Han Minh led Vietnam with a game-high 17 points on nine shots, while To Quang Trung backed him up with 10 markers. Nguyen Van Hung was just a point short of a double-double, finishing with nine points and 14 caroms.
The Singaporeans shot 45 percent from the floor, and their passing was on point as they dished out 20 dimes. Their tough defense forced Vietnam to commit 15 turnovers, which they converted to 15 points. However, Vietnam had more boards, 42-39.
The Scores:
Singapore (73) – Goh 15, Kwek 15, Liew 15, Chia 10, Ng H 7, Raj 6, Wong 5, Cheok 0, Ng J 0, Lim 0.
Vietnam (60) – Trieu 17, To 10, Nguyen V 9, Tran 8, Le N 6, Le P 5, Dang 2, Nguyen T 2, Nguyen H 1.
Quarterscores: 18-17, 29-29, 47-47, 73-60.
