ASEAN Games Australia 2012: Basketball

MALAYSIAN men’s basketball team Fly Falcons and its all-women Indonesian counterpart, Mango, vowed the crowd at  this year’s ASEAN Games Australia. Cherish Li reports.

Photo: Wan Shing

The AGA 2012 basketball finals took place on October 25, at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre.

Men’s final

The men’s final was a contest between Team Fly Falcon and Team Rhinos.

Rhinos, who had a great run in the event, scored the first points of the match. But the Fly Falcons soon came back and went five points clear.

With Team Fly Falcons in the lead, and in possession of the ball, Team Rhinos tried desperately to regain both. But they burnt themselves out and their opponents conjured some scintillating offense and teamwork to consign them to a 32-48 defeat.

“It was quite a hard game,” said Fly Falcons captain, Benjamin.

“We tried our best because we had only six players, and we were tired. We didn’t have much rest,” he added.

Benjamin thought his team won the match because they jelled together well.

“We have known each other for probably more than a year, so we can cooperate with each other really well,” he said.

Even though Rhinos lost, the team captain, Ernaldo, said they enjoyed the match.

“Most of the members in Fly Falcons are older than us, and we are still students,” he said.

“So they are more experienced than us, and they have been playing basketball longer than us.”

Photo: Wan Shing

Women’s final

The women’s final produced some great defense, passing, and shooting, and saw Team Mango beat Singapore’s Team Huskies, 26-10.

Stevanni Saputra scored 16 of the 26 points and was recognized as the Most Valuable Player.

Mango said the match was great and they had fun playing it.

“It’s better than last year, because last year, we only had one game,” said Mango Captain, Jing Ying Cheah.

“The most important thing is that we played as a team,” she added.

The team thought their opponents “[were] quite good” and “just unlucky” not to win.

Huskies captain, Fui Yah Loi, said it was her team’s first time playing at the AGA. They thought it was a “fantastic game” and were quite satisfied with their teamwork and performance.

Photo: Wan Shing