The Singaporean side had their chances but squandered them to allow the Thai men to take a 35-17 lead at half-time.

The Thai team stumbled for a while when Thai team manager Nipon Chawalitmontian rested star player Sopon Pinitpacharalert. The Singaporeans organised themselves to give a hard time to the hosts. Sopon came off the bench and rallied his team-mates in time to lead the Thai team to their first victory.

Sopon scored 16 points to emerge as the top scorer.

"Most of our players have never played in an international event before, but we did a good job. We failed to get going for a while because we fielded reserves so that they got some experience," said Nipon.

"The Malaysia match tomorrow will be a tough one. They had a hard match against Indonesia today and hopefully our players will take advantage of the fatigue-factor," he said.

Rony Gunawan fired 16 points to lead Indonesia past Malaysia 72-66. Malaysian made it a close contest by taking a narrow 63-60 lead late in the final session.

A minute later, the Indonesians stole the ball from the rivals' end and Denny Sumargo fired a three-pointer. After another turnover, Andi Poedjakesuma had a lay-up to put Indonesia firmly on the saddle.

With the clock ticking away, Malaysia's shooting fell apart. Indonesian Rony had a lay-up in the last second to ensure victory.

Somporn Suphop

The Nation

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