Singapore Slingers suffer second straight home defeat with 65-62 loss to Thailand Tigers
Story by Koh Yizhe/Red Sports. Photos by Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports.
Desmond Oh (Slingers, #2) scored nine points in the match after featuring for 15 minutes and 36 seconds. “Although I am happy I got quite a lot of minutes, I believe I could work on my offense more. It is hard to chase the match when you are 10 plus points down. It is possible, but very hard.” (Photo 1 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Singapore Indoor Stadium, Monday, December 7, 2009 – The Singapore Slingers put on a late rally but left it too late as they fell 62-65 to the Thailand Tigers in the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL). This was the Slingers’ second consecutive home loss and leaves them with a 5-3 win-loss record.
The Slingers started the season with four straight wins, but after falling to the Philippine Patriots last month, it has gone downhill from there. Although they managed a slim 61-59 victory over Satria Muda BritAma in their next game, the Slingers were defeated 84-74 by the KL Dragons in their next match at home. In their last four games, they are only 1-3.
The Tigers, meanwhile, improve to 3-6, with this win against the Slingers their first of the season on the road after six attempts.
The Slingers had a positive start taking advantage of early turnovers by the Tigers to jump to a quick 15-7 lead with four and a half minutes played. The starting five of co-captain Michael Wong, Al Vergara, Kyle Jeffers, Michael LeBlanc and Marcus Ng did the damage for the Slingers in the opening minutes.
However, poor ball-handling by the Slingers allowed the Tigers to keep within striking distance and the visitors ended the quarter only six points adrift at 16-22.
The second period belonged squarely to the Tigers as they limited the Slingers to just a measly seven points. Ratdech Kruatiwa reduced the Slinger lead to just two points with a three-pointer at the 6:19 mark, while a quick steal by Attaporn Lertmalaiporn allowed him to level the scores at 27 with a layup.
Attaporn then sank a three-pointer to give the Tigers the lead for good with more than four minutes left in the quarter, and the Tigers extended their lead further at half-time to nine points (38-29).
The Tigers continued their dominance and mastery of the Slingers upon resumption. Kruatiwa started the quarter brilliantly for the Tigers with a three-pointer as the Slingers struggled to make their chances count in the early goings. As a result, the Tigers led by as many as 14 points in the third quarter.
Although they managed to reduce the deficit with LeBlanc's powerful plays in the paint, the Slingers still trailed by nine points at 39-48 heading into the final quarter.
The Slingers were a different side in the final quarter. Although their opponents started with a 5-0 run, two consecutive three-pointers by Marcus Ng and Desmond Oh, along with a three-point play by Marcus, put the crowd firmly behind the Slingers and reduce the deficit to six points with 4:50 left on the clock. It was down to just four points at 61-65 when Kyle Jeffers made a layup three minutes later.
A series of missed free throws by Ikenna Chukwuemeka Nwankwo gave the Slingers and the home fans a glimpse of hope, but cheap turnovers and fouls cost them in the dying moments as Marcus failed to make a three-pointer at the buzzer.
The Slingers will have to bounce back on the road against third-placed Satria Muda BritAma on Saturday, while the Tigers will take on the KL Dragons on Sunday.
Quarter by Quarter Scores
Singapore Slingers v Thailand Tigers
1st Q: 22-16
2nd Q: 7-22
3rd Q: 10-10
4th Q: 23-17
Singapore Slingers Game Box Score
| # | Name | PTS | FG | 3PT | FT | OR | DR | TR | AST | STL | BS | TO | PF | MIN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Desmond Oh | 9 | 3/11 | 1/5 | 2/6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 15:36 |
| 5 | Wong Wei Long | 0 | 0/1 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 11:36 |
| 10 | Hong Wei Jian | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6:14 |
| 11 | *Michael Wong | 6 | 2/4 | 1/3 | 1/2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 21:36 |
| 12 | Prasad Sadasivan | DNP | ||||||||||||
| 13 | Steven Khoo | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6:16 |
| 14 | Lim Wai Sian | DNP | ||||||||||||
| 15 | Pathman Matialakan | 4 | 2/5 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10:06 |
| 19 | *Al Vergara | 6 | 2/7 | 0/1 | 2/2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 26:31 |
| 21 | *Marcus Ng | 6 | 2/13 | 1/6 | 1/1 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 32:18 |
| 31 | *Kyle Jeffers | 8 | 4/12 | 0/0 | 0/2 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 32:35 |
| 35 | *Michael LeBlanc | 23 | 10/19 | 2/7 | 1/4 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 37:12 |
| Total | 62 | 25/72 | 5/23 | 7/17 | 16 | 24 | 40 | 14 | 11 | 0 | 18 | 22 | 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.
Thailand Tigers Game Box Score
| # | Name | PTS | FG | 3PT | FT | OR | DR | TR | AST | STL | BS | TO | PF | MIN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | *Chaz Twan Briggs | 12 | 5/12 | 1/3 | 1/7 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 40:00 |
| 8 | Chattipak Ruankam | DNP | ||||||||||||
| 11 | Glenn Santana Bolocon | 2 | 1/3 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9:21 |
| 12 | Ratdech Kruatiwa | 15 | 4/9 | 4/6 | 3/4 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 29:27 |
| 14 | *Axel John Gaspal Doruelo | 10 | 3/8 | 2/5 | 2/2 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 32:36 |
| 19 | Ricky Inguin Ricafuente | 4 | 1/2 | 0/1 | 2/2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7:24 |
| 23 | *Piyapong Piroon | 0 | 0/2 | 0/2 | 0/0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 11:43 |
| 24 | Chaiwat Kaedum | DNP | ||||||||||||
| 35 | *Ikenna Chukwuemeka Nwankwo | 9 | 4/12 | 0/1 | 1/10 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 40:00 |
| 55 | *Attaporn Lertmalaiporn | 13 | 4/6 | 1/2 | 4/4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 29:29 |
| Total | 65 | 22/57 | 8/24 | 13/29 | 15 | 23 | 38 | 10 | 11 | 8 | 22 | 20 | 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.
Michael LeBlanc (Slingers, #35) gets his headband knocked off in a tussle. Despite his usual high-scoring performance, it wasn’t enough to seal the win for the Slingers today. He was top scorer with 23 points. (Photo 2 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Attaporn Lertmalaiporn (Tigers, #55) was the star of the Tigers with 13 points including five straight points in the second quarter to level the match and give the Tigers the lead. However, in the dying moments, he was fouled out and was given a technical foul when he threw the ball in the direction of the referee. (Photo 3 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Nwankwo Ikenna (Tigers, #35) made only one out of 10 free throws. If he made them all, he could have put the game beyond the Slingers much earlier. (Photo 4 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Wong Wei Long (Slingers, #5) failed to make an impact on this match with five costly turnovers in his own half. (Photo 5 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Michael Wong (Slingers, #11) had a quiet night with a mere six points despite playing over 21 minutes. The Slingers co-captain was handed a starting place alongside the foreigners. (Photo 6 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Al Vergara (Slingers, #19) attributed the loss to his team’s defense and rebounding. “It was bad. In the first quarter we led by 8 points, the second quarter we only scored 5 points? In the fourth quarter, we didn’t have time. They (Tigers) had a lot of offensive rebounds.” (Photo 7 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Although he got 16 rebounds on the night, Kyle Jeffers (Slingers, #31) failed to pull down some crucial boards and was constantly out-played by Nwankwo Ikenna. (Photo 8 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Kyle Jeffers goes for a slam dunk. (Photo 9 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Marcus Ng going between Kruatiwa and Nwankwo. (Photo 10 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Marcus Ng holds the ball tightly despite having a bloody tooth. “We showed what we could do in the last few minutes of the game when we chased the game, but that was what we should have done throughout the match. We had trouble running through them as they shot down all our fast breaks and we couldn’t make crucial plays.” (Photo 11 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
“Keep your eye on the ball!” Tiger coaches gives instructions to their players. (Photo 12 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
It was a night of frustration for the Slingers’ coaches. (Photo 13 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Coach Frank Arsego giving the team last minute instructions before the fourth period. (Photo 14 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
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