For the second straight game, SOUTHORN Tigers did not allow a single point in the first period of the game. This time they did it in the Final.

Terence Chan is the only player with a field goal in the first period. He scored 5 points, Patrick Tse added 3 and Benny Wong added 1. Seven of the nine first-period points came from the free throw line.

The Tigers sent all the reserves to the floor in the second floor. Starting centre Wilson Chow is the only player to score and the G.T. Explorers come back and tie the game at 12 entering the halftime break.

Bryant Chan scored 5 points including a three-point shot. Eddie Ng made a trey to tie the game before the period end.

As most people think, suffocating defense is the most important thing. Perhaps this game was saying it is correct. Both teams were ugly offensively.

The Explorers made only one field goal from Kelvin Lui in the third period as the team was only down by one point.

Both team could not make any shots until Tigers forward Terence Chan made a jumper off the glass as the time for the period expired.

The Explorers had seven fouls in the period, including one technical foul on Bryant Chan, when he looked to argue with the referee. However, the detail was not known.

After Terence Chan scored his final two points to start the fourth period, Bryant Chan made a shot from the arc and get his team close again at 17:19. But Benny Wong made a long three about two feet from the three point arc and the lead was back to five, and the Explorers could not score again the rest of the game.

The Explorers reached team fouls in all four periods.

All starting tigers went to the line for at least once. SOUTHORN Tigers guard Edward Fong played his first game.

The two points by Kelvin Lui are the only scoring effort from the bench by both teams.

Patrick Tse played four games and started all. Benny Wong is the only player who started all five games for the tigers. He grabbed 6 rebounds in this game but had only five in the past four games.

The Explorers missed all six attempts at the line, while the Tigers made half of the charity points. The total 42 points by two teams in a game tied the lowest of the league’s five games. The G.T. Explorers lost 18:24 against the SAMURAI on July 9 at Sheung Wan. Explorer Michael Killeen did not play in both games.