Closer - that's the role our team captain Abdul Chaudri grew into, and the role he embraced very well today.
Down by 2 with 58 seconds left, New Zealand U21 shooting guard Cornelius Rabot missed a jumper to extend the lead, and Zhang Long Yew mustered all his strength to regain possession for a time out. The plan was simple - feed Chaudri the ball and have him drive to the basket. No good. He missed the layup and saw Stacy Boulton hit one over Charlie from outside. But he made sure he didn't make the same mistake. He hit his next drive, then kicked out to Abhishek Singh who nailed it from downtown to tie the game. And finally, put us ahead with 2 seconds to go with another driving layup.
WE DID IT!
The game was so intense that I have just calmed down from watching it. The whole game was frustrating from the start. Having our best post player injured in the first minute, and one of our top shooters join him in the medicine bay slightly later on, it seemed like the Kiwis were destined to win this game. Abdul Chaudri had an inspiring run early in the 2nd, but that still couldn't stop our opponents from racing to a 14 point lead as our boys failed to score anything in the last 2 minutes. The same happened in the 3rd, where despite shaving off a huge chunk of the lead, poor performance in the final 2 minutes of the quarter saw them keep us at arm's length. Thankfully, despite having 2 unsubable players, we came up tops.
Abdul Chaudri was our best player of the game, hitting a game high 33 points and grabbing 6 rebounds. He was also active on defense, with 2 steals and a block. Chow Choon Dong was equally impressive, scoring 31 points and pulling down 5 rebounds. He took over the playmaking duties today, dishing out a game high 5 assists. However his 4 turnovers mean he still has quite a bit to work on before he can be considered a primary ball handler.
Abhishek Singh also had an impressive game, finishing with a double-double from a stat line of 19 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists. He was really efficient on offense, hitting 57% from the field and 50% from 3. Meanwhile Zhang Long Yew endured a gruelling 47 minute match to put up some impressive defensive numbers with 14 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. However, he was non existent on offense, missing all 7 of his field goals, and only making 1 out of 2 free throws.
Our next game will be against Taiwan U21. Since Iran U21 beat China U21 today, the next game will legitimately be our best shot to make it into the semifinals since season 36. Let's give it our all!