Slinger Eric Sandrin returns from injury to spark whopping victory over Philippines Pampanga Buddies

By Ian Chew. Photos by Lai Jun Wei.

Singapore Indoor Stadium, Sunday, 30 Nov, 2008 – The Slingers franchise must take on credible opposition in their challenge series to survive. Better still, the start of the ASEAN league, (or whichever league will be formed) cannot begin fast enough for a seemingly directionless Slingers outfit.

On Sunday, the Singapore Slingers outclassed the visiting Philippines Smart Pampanga Buddies by a whopping 28 points, as most readers would have known from our earlier report. But what most would not know was that the game was virtually over before it began.

No disrespect to the Filipino team, but Slingers Sam Harris and Eric Sandrin towered over the starters on the Philippine starting line-up and looked ready to devour their opponents. Even sharpshooter and fan favourite Darren Ng looked as tall as their centre. It was truly a mismatch of epic proportions. It would take a miracle for the Buddies to win the game and the ten thousand dollars at stake.

But credit to the Philippine team, they nearly pulled off the miraculous in the first half. Buddies Jemal B Vizcarra and Khiel Misa downed five 3-pointers among themselves to keep the score close after the Slingers had raced to an early 7-0 lead. Only a late rally by the Slingers at the end of the first half, including an inexperienced foul on Darren Ng at the 3-point line at the first half buzzer, kept the scores comfortable for the Slingers. Darren subsequently scored all his free throws to lead the Slingers to a 49-41 first half lead.

Unlike the previous Philippines PBA teams like Air21 Express or the Purefoods though, the Buddies folded tamely in the third quarter. The class difference of the Buddies compared to their counterparts was painfully obvious.

With Slinger Eric Sandrin ruling both the offensive and defensive boards, Pampanga Buddies contrived to miss 15 of 21 shooting opportunities, including all three attempts from the 3-point line, to record a dismal 12 points for the quarter. The game was well and truly over with the Slingers up 74-53 by the end of third quarter.

Of course, the surge by the host can be attributed to a battle-hardened Slingers team being able to cope with a variety of attacks and upping their defensive intensity in the second half.

In particular, a much improved Sam Harris stepped up to fill the large shoes made vacant by teammate Blagoj Janev’s sudden departure, showing that he can mix up some jumpers with a stellar defensive performance. The visitors’ “hack-a-Sam” tactic also failed miserably as Sam converted 3 of 4 free throws. He even added a 3-pointer at the close of the game for good measure!

New head coach Frank Arsego also showed a greater willingness to blood local talent, which can only bode well for the organisation and the local basketball scene. Veteran local boy Pathman played some serious minutes and finished with 6 points and 7 rebounds while newcomer Desmond Oh did not look at all out of place within the Slingers team. Desmond’s defensive intensity was rewarded with a breakaway lay-up and 3 points of his own, which must surely boost his confidence for future games.

The presence of a third Philippine official is also another step in the right direction. It should go some way to countering allegations of bias among the local referees, some of whose calls can be interpreted in a different way, to say the least. Not only that, the exchange of knowledge should level up the standard of refereeing in this region.

The Slingers may have come away with the huge win in the end, but a second-rate Philippine outfit definitely made the hosts looked good. The final score, by the way, was 100-72.

See second half highlights of the game:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iwb6gIJYYg

See first half highlights of the game:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSvqTA5FXr4

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Singapore Slingers vs Philippines Pampanga Buddies play by play update