by Patrick Tse, SBL Sports Writer

Trojans improved to 4-0 all-time against SOUTHORN Tigers behind Michael Lau and Mike Mak’s superb performances.

The men of Troy started things off with a 12-0 run, giving Tigers a scoreless 1st period. With a mound to climb, William Leung gave the Tigers a boost by scoring 2 treys. The tigers then when inside with Dennis Cheung. Despite going 1 of 5 from the field, Dennis was able to score from the charity stripe to keep the game close enough heading into the break.

Patrick Tse (Aydan Z) moved from point guard to start in center along side with Michael Lau, who grabbed a game-high 13 boards, and Sunny Wong in the back and they dominated the board and set the tone for the offense. The Tigers, who led the league in rebounds in the past two seasons, were out-rebounded 17-25 in the whole game and logged only a single offensive board. Trojans, without giving up any 2nd chance points, were effective in counter attack with their overall speed and agility.

The men in blue picked up where they left off in the 2nd half, scoring on back to back fast break layups off Tigers turnovers. Mike Mak had two important shots from beyond the arch in each half, and his 2nd trey was able to answer Tigers runs in the 3rd as they led 32-20 going into the 4th period.

SOUTHORN Tigers’ starting five combined for only 14 points while the bench provided 20 of their 34 total points for the game.

Not having any proper practice since the end of last season, Trojans ran out of gas and tried to sit on their lead in the 4th. Patrick Tse, with 4 dimes in the game, fouled out of the game in the middle of the 4th. Despite trailing by double digit with only 2 minutes to go, the Tigers were still in great spirits and they capitalized on a few sloppy turnovers by the Trojans. Benny made his only 3-pointer in the game late in the 4th to bring them to within 5 points but that’s as close as they reached as they ran out of time.

Edward Fong played his first game after rejoining the Tigers after his two year secondment

Terence Chan and Ken Leung, having had their wedding ceremonies in last December, played their first games as married men.

SOUTHORN Tigers, held two opponents scoreless in the first period in three games of those kind prior to the game, became the 4th team having zero point in the beginning period after this loss.