Slingers beat Barracudas 82-80 away for third straight win in ABL
By Les Tan/Red Sports
Lonnie Jones (in blue, #45) was on fire for the Barracudas in the first quarter with crisp shooting and strong inside play to ensure the Barracudas led 25-22 after the first quarter. (Photo 1 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Brunei Indoor Stadium, Bandar Sri Begawan, Brunei, Saturday, October 24, 2009 – The Singapore Slingers passed their first away test when they beat the Brunei Barracudas 82-80 in front of a partisan crowd to remain unbeaten in their ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) campaign.
The Slingers were slow getting out of the blocks and found themselves trailing by as many as 10 points in the second quarter before ending the half five points behind at 39-44.
The Slingers came out firing in the third quarter and finally got their first lead of the game at 51-50 when Hong Wei Jian (#10) sank a 3-pointer. Thereafter, the Barracudas’ lack of match fitness started to tell as they rotated only eight players on the night while the Slingers used all 10 on their roster.
In the third quarter, the Slingers’ defensive intensity restricted their opponents to 5 of 9 field goal shooting while they went 8 of 20 from the field. As a result, the Slingers outshot the Barracudas 23-15 in the third quarter to take a 62-59 lead into the final quarter.
The Barracudas crept back to within one at 61-62 when Lonnie Jones (#45) sank two free throws but a 3-point play by Marcus Ng (#21), who was playing with a fever, kept the Slingers ahead at 65-61. A Michael LeBlanc (#35) basket made it a six-point lead for the Slingers at 67-61, forcing the Barracudas into a timeout to regroup as the game started slipping away from them.
The Slingers came out of the timeout with a full-court press to good effect to take advantage of the breathless Barracudas to stay ahead at 69-65 before a psychologically devastating 3-pointer by point guard Al Vergara (#19) at 6:14 gave them a seven-point lead at 72-65.
After that, the Barracudas seem to fall even further apart, with Lonnie Jones missing two free throws and a 2-point attempt and Leonidez Avenido (#18) managing only a single point from the free-throw line for the next minute and a half.
By that time, the Slingers were eight points ahead at 74-66, courtesy of a Kyle Jeffers (#31) 2-pointer for the biggest Slinger lead of the night.
With more than four and a half minutes to play, the Slingers were not home free but Barracudas shooting self-destructed as their opponents went 2 of 5 from the free-throw line and 5 of 10 from field goal range. Three defensive rebounds by Jeffers and LeBlanc at that stage also ensured the Slingers finished just ahead even though Avenido sank a 3-pointer just before the buzzer for the Barracudas.
Overall, the Slingers shot an impressive 12 of 16 (75%) from the free throw line and 10 of 19 three-pointers (53%) to give them the edge in the game.
“The two American boys stepped up tonight,” said Slinger coach Frank Arsego. “They [Barracudas] made us play very hard. No way [we're favourites]. We have to play well every night.”
Quarter-by-Quarter Scoring
Barracudas vs Slingers
1st Q: 25-22
2ndQ: 19-17
3rd Q: 14-23
4th Q: 21-20
Brunei Barracudas Game Box Score
| # | PLAYER | PTS | FG | 3PT | FT | OR | DR | TR | AST | STL | BS | TO | PF | MIN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hee Lee Ho | DNP | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Aik Hock Lim | DNP | ||||||||||||
| 9 | *Francis Adriano | 15 | 6/10 | 0/1 | 3/5 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 23:37 |
| 11 | Benjamin Sim | 5 | 2/2 | 0/0 | 1/2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10:41 |
| 12 | Celedon Camaso | 5 | 2/3 | 1/2 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 33:26 |
| 13 | *Michael Pilgrim | 16 | 7/16 | 0/1 | 2/4 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 36:08 |
| 18 | *Leonidez Avenido | 20 | 7/9 | 1/3 | 5/6 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 32:46 |
| 20 | Yeh Leong Fong | DNP | ||||||||||||
| 33 | *Esmond Tan | 0 | 0/2 | 0/2 | 0/0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 17:13 |
| 36 | Chee Choun Lim | 2 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8:01 |
| 45 | *Lonnie Jones | 17 | 6/12 | 1/1 | 4/10 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 38:08 |
| 54 | Muhd Mohzani Abd Ghani | DNP | ||||||||||||
| Total | 80 | 31/55 | 3/10 | 15/27 | 5 | 24 | 29 | 21 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 17 | 200 |
* Denotes starters. PTS – Points scored. FG – Field goals made/attempted. 3PT – Three-point field goals made/attempted. FT – Free throws made/attempted. OR – Offensive rebounds. DR – Defensive rebounds. TR – Total rebounds. AST – Assists. STL – Steals. BS – Blocked shots. TO – Turnovers. PF – Personal fouls. MIN – Minutes played.
Singapore Slingers Game Box Score
| # | PLAYER | PTS | FG | 3PT | FT | OR | DR | TR | AST | STL | BS | TO | PF | MIN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | *Desmond Oh | 1 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 1/2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8:49 |
| 5 | Wong Wei Long | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5:02 |
| 10 | Hong Wei Jian | 5 | 2/8 | 1/3 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 19:06 |
| 11 | Michael Wong | 6 | 2/4 | 2/3 | 0/0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 25:58 |
| 14 | Lim Wai Sian | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4:01 |
| 15 | Pathman Matialakan | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8:49 |
| 19 | *Al Vergara | 15 | 6/11 | 3/5 | 0/0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 34:58 |
| 21 | *Marcus Ng | 6 | 2/4 | 0/0 | 2/2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 18:14 |
| 31 | *Kyle Jeffers | 17 | 7/17 | 1/3 | 2/3 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 39:18 |
| 35 | *Michael LeBlanc | 32 | 11/20 | 3/5 | 7/7 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 35:45 |
| Total | 82 | 30/65 | 10/19 | 12/16 | 8 | 12 | 20 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 23 | 200 |
* Denotes starters. PTS – Points scored. FG – Field goals made/attempted. 3PT – Three-point field goals made/attempted. FT – Free throws made/attempted. OR – Offensive rebounds. DR – Defensive rebounds. TR – Total rebounds. AST – Assists. STL – Steals. BS – Blocked shots. TO – Turnovers. PF – Personal fouls. MIN – Minutes played.
Celedon Camaso (in blue, #12) drives past Kyle Jeffers (left) and Michael Wong (right). Camaso had four assists on the night for the Barracudas and played 38 minutes. He finished with 5 points. (Photo 2 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Francis Adriano (in blue, #9) takes on Wong Wei Long. Adriano had 15 points on the night and shot 6 of 10 from the field. (Photo 3 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Michael Pilgrim (in blue, #13) lays up past Jeffers. Pilgrim had 7 of 16 field goal shooting and played 36 minutes. (Photo 4 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Benjamin Sim (in blue, #11) shoots over Michael Wong. Sim played 10 minutes and contributed five points. (Photo 5 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Jones (left) struggled with his free throw shooting in the second half and finished 4 of 10 from the charity stripe. He saw the most court time for the Barracudas at 38 minutes. (Photo 6 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Slinger coach Frank Arsego takes the team through a timeout. Arsego rotated all 10 players on the roster. (Photo 7 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Slinger Al Vergara (right) makes a pass despite the attention of Barracuda Leonidez Avenido. Vergara had a psychologically important 3-pointer in the third quarter. He scored 15 points on the night on the back of 6 of 11 field goal shooting and sank 3 out of 5 3-point attempts. (Photo 8 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Slinger Hong Wei Jian (right) contends with Barracuda Francis Adriano. Wei Jian scored the go-ahead 3-pointer to give the Slingers their first lead of the game in the third quarter which they never relinquished. Weijian finished with 5 points and saw 19 minutes on court although he shot only 2 of 8 from the field. (Photo 9 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Slinger Michael LeBlanc (in red, #35) hit a game-high 32 points on the back of 11 of 20 field goal shooting and making 3 of 5 3-point attempts. He was perfect under pressure from the charity stripe, going 7 out of 7. (Photo 10 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Slinger Michael Wong (left) saw 25 minutes on court and contributed 6 points on the back of 2 of 4 field goal shooting and 2 of 3 3-point attempts. (Photo 11 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Slinger Kyle Jeffers (left) had a team-high 9 rebounds to help the team defensively. He finished with 17 points and was on court practically the whole game with 39:18 minutes. (Photo 12 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Slinger Marcus Ng, playing despite a fever, had 6 points on the night from an 18-minute appearance. He fouled out late in the game. (Photo 13 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Slinger Desmond Oh (#5) shoots a free-throw in the dying moments of the game. He had his first start for the Slingers. (Photo 14 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Singapore Slingers 2009/10 ABL schedule
| DAY/DATE | TIME | HOME TEAM | VISITING TEAM | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PRE-SEASON | |||||
| Fri, Sept 18 | 8pm | S’pore Slingers | 93 | Coca-Cola Tigers | 85 |
| Wed, Sept 23 | 8pm | S’pore Slingers | 67 | Philippines | 70 |
| Wed, Sept 30 | 8pm | S’pore Slingers | 72 | Ginebra Kings | 77 |
| Sun, Oct 4 | 4pm | S’pore Slingers | 71 | San Miguel Beermen | 65 |
| ABL | |||||
| Sun, Oct 11 | 4pm | S’pore Slingers | 87 | Brunei Barracudas | 69 |
| Sun, Oct 18 | 4pm | S’pore Slingers | 74 | Philippine Patriots | 69 |
| Sat, Oct 24 | 4pm | Brunei Barracudas | 80 | S’pore Slingers | 82 |
| Sun, Nov 1 | 5pm | S’pore Slingers | 96 | Satria Muda | 72 |
| Sat, Nov 7 | 4pm | Philippine Patriots | 70 | S’pore Slingers | 53 |
| Sat, Nov 14 | 5pm | Satria Muda | 59 | S’pore Slingers | 61 |
| Sun, Nov 22 | 4pm | S’pore Slingers | 74 | KL Dragons | 84 |
| Mon, Dec 7 | 7.40pm | S’pore Slingers | 62 | Thailand Tigers | 65 |
| Sat, Dec 12 | 5pm | Satria Muda | 67 | S’pore Slingers | 58 |
| Thurs, Dec 17 | 7.40pm | S’pore Slingers | 69 | Thailand Tigers | 66 |
| Wed, Jan 6 | 7.40pm | S’pore Slingers | 67 | Philippine Patriots | 59 |
| Mon, Jan 11 | 7.40pm | S’pore Slingers | 92 | KL Dragons | 74 |
| Sun, Jan 17 | 4pm | KL Dragons | 78 | S’pore Slingers | 71 |
| Wed, Jan 20 | 8pm | Brunei Barracudas | 89 | S’pore Slingers | 95 |
| Sun, Jan 24 | 4pm | Thailand Tigers | 80 | S’pore Slingers | 92 |
| Semi-finals | |||||
| Sun, Jan 31 | 4pm | Singapore Slingers | 87 | Satria Muda | 68 |
| Wed, Feb 3 | 8pm | Satria Muda | 74 | Singapore Slingers | 45 |
| Sun, Feb 7 | 4pm | Singapore Slingers | 76 | Satria Muda | 86 |
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