HONG KONG - Overmatched in practically all aspects of the game, a very young and raw Hong Kong National Team suffered an 88-58 blowout to the visiting Southern California Fukienese Association (SCFA) basketball team in last night's hostilities at the 18th 3-D Gold Super Kung Sheung Cup at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium here.
SCFA, a US-based team composed mostly of athletic and burly African-Americans, was the more aggressive team from the get-go, taking advantage of their advantage in heft and hustle to pound the ball inside and leave Hong Kong's zone defense in shambles. Looking intimidated, Hong Kong's young players also appeared tentative on the offensive end, muffing open shots and held to only 4 points after almost 8 minutes had gone by in the first quarter.
Tarron Williams (200-F-76, college: Cal.St.-San Bernar.), a burly 6'7 forward with a permanent smirk painted on his face, threw his weight around and practically bulldozed his way into Hong Kong's double- and at times triple-team defense. Whenever Hong Kong's interior defense managed to stand its ground, SCFA turned to its shooters, including youtube sensation David Kalb (he of the Lebron James H-O-R-S-E fame) and temperamental guard Christian Yeung (186-G-87). Yeung drilled in consecutive threes to close the first half with SCFA safely on top, 45-24.
In the third quarter, Hong Kong made defensive adjustments and appeared more aggressive on offense behind the heroics of 20-year old, 6'5 forward Chow Kin Wan (193-C-90), cutting down the deficit to as low as 9 points, 57-46, towards the end the third quarter.
Booed by the local crowd and distracted by a handful of Filipino supporters who provided some comic relief, Williams and Kalb muffed consecutive free throws whenever a boisterous Filipino man with a beer belly and a booming voice playfully jeered, 'Hey Williams, I love you!' to the delight of the audience.
But it was all downhill from there. SCFA quickly raced to a 15-0 run to start the fourth quarter, and it was smooth sailing from then on, although it continued to pound Hong Kong with putbacks after putbacks and non-stop hustle.
Chow Kin Wan was the lone bright spot for Hong Kong with 18 points. No other Hong Kong player managed to score in double figures, including veteran marksman Poon Chi Ho, who was held to 3 points on atrocious shooting.
The loss relegated Hong Kong to second place in its group and will move up the semi-final round against a dangerous Xin Cheng Holdings basketball team, which earlier held back a rallying Philippine side, 80-72. The Philippines, represented here by collegiate standouts from Ateneo de Manila and Adamson University, will face off with SCFA in the other semi-final duel.
SCFA - Yeung 21, Curtis 17, Moton 12, Williams 10, Kalb 10, Mark 9, Goodrich 5, Erickson 2, Hemens 2, Kim 0, Chang 0, Lai 0
HKG - Chow K.W. 18, Liang 8, Chan 5, Lee 5, Wong C.W. 4, Tsoi 4, Fong 4, Poon 3, Lau 2, Heung 2, Cheung W.H. 2, Wong Y.T. 1
- Ryan Asis Maniago
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