Mr. Norman, coach of the IASAS champion boys' varsity basketball team, recounts this year's incredible buzzer-beating victory against Taipei American School:

 

 

Saturday, Feb. 7, 2009

Russell Kruetter's steal and subsequent driving layup with 10 seconds left in the game capped a remarkable come-from-behind victory for the SAS Eagles in the 2009 IASAS Basketball Championship against the host Taipei American School Tigers.

SAS began the fourth quarter behind by 15 points and won 64-63, outscoring TAS 25-9 in the final ten minutes. Clutch performances by Brady Baildon, Kruetter, Rauson Clower, Dan Albanese and the Peters brothers, Blake and Trevor, allowed the Eagles to pull off a shocking upset.

The two teams had played twice previously, with TAS winning both games, by 16 in the Hong Kong Holiday Tournament and by 19 in the first game of the round robin phase of IASAS. After their loss to TAS in their first game, the Eagles defeated IS Manila (48-41), ISKL (49-41), JIS ( 72-47) and IS Bangkok(67-41) to reach the championship, played before a raucous crowd of 1200.

SAS finished the season with a record of 23-8. Russell Kruetter, Brady Baildon and Dan Albanese were named to the All-Tournament team.