Sri Lanka took on the unbeaten Malaysia in their fourth match of the FIBA U18 Asian Championship on Wednesday (16th November 2016) in Bangkok, Thailand. Sri Lanka, continuing their bad run in the tournament, ended on the losing side as the full time scoreboard read 71-46 in favor of Malaysia.
Previous Games
- Sri Lanka lost their first game to Hong-Kong 41 – 87
- Sri Lanka lost their second game to Indonesia 47-73
- Sri Lanka lost their third game to Singapore 40-50
- Malaysia won their first game against Hong-Kong 65-40
- Malaysia won their second game against Singapore 64-33
- Malaysia won their third game against Kazakhstan 74-59
Malaysia won the jump ball as M.Chia got the party started with a layup. Malaysia led the game 5-0 inside the second minute of the game as K.Khoo converted one free-throw and P. Heng added a couple more.
It was Shereen Preena who scored first for Sri Lanka as she hit a mid-range jumper. It was not the best of starts for Sri Lanka as Malaysia kept ticking the scoreboard while keeping the Sri Lankan offense silent. They went on to score twenty points in the maiden quarter and only conceded eight points to the islanders.
First Quarter: Sri Lanka – 08 Malaysia – 20
Sri Lanka was under pressure right from the get-go in the 2nd quarter. It was important that they gave away fewer points in this quarter since they had not done too well in the 2nd half in the previous games. However, Malaysia went onto add another fifteen points and Sri Lanka replied with sixteen points.
Stealing the ball off the Sri Lankan players has perhaps been the easiest of tasks for the opposition. Sri Lanka recorded a total number of 22 steals conceded. In other words, it was 22 possessions that were turned over and halted.
Sri Lanka trailed the game by eleven points going into lemons.
Half Time: Sri Lanka – 24 Malaysia – 35
After the ten-minute break with a double figure lead, Malaysia fancied their chances as they added another twenty-two points in the third quarter. Sri Lanka only managed eleven. It is a pretty simple equation, you score and you don’t let the opposition score double what you scored. You just tighten the screws in defense, but Sri Lanka were simply not up to the mark.
It was the consistency in scoring that Sri Lanka lacked. They opted shots but just did not connect. Malaysia led the game by twenty-two points at the end of the third quarter.
Third Quarter: Sri Lanka –35 Singapore – 57
Coming into the final six hundred seconds, Malaysia continued their dominance and went on to tick the scoreboard for another fourteen points. Sri Lanka managed eleven points in the final quarter. It was the bad start and the heavy leakage of points in the third quarter that cost them ultimately.
Sri Lanka did have a total number of 37 defensive rebounds for Malaysia’s 22 but there have been no points scored via fast breaks. Maybe a few fast breaks to dismantle the defense and the momentum of the Malaysians would have helped the Sri Lankans to keep themselves in the game.
Full time: Sri Lanka – 46 Malaysia – 71
Sri Lanka will play their fifth match of the tournament tomorrow (16th November 2016) against Kazakhstan at 7.30 am.
