Singapore Slingers stun Satria Muda in Jakarta with comeback ABL victory

By Les Tan/Red Sports in Jakarta

BritAma Arena, Jakarta, Saturday, November 14, 2009 – The Singapore Slingers pulled out an improbable victory when they beat Satria Muda BritAma 61-59 in Round 6 of the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL).

Down 10 points at 49-59 with 3:29 left on the clock in the fourth, the Slingers put together a heart-stopping 12-0 run on the back of some outstanding play by Marcus Ng and Hong Wei Jian. The two players, between them, drained 10 points to deliver a crushing blow to the Indonesian club who thought they were coasting to victory.

Leading 59-58 with 39 seconds left, Satria Muda’s Alexander Hartman left the door open for the Slingers when he missed two free throws.

Given the opportunity, Wei Jian then showed nerves of steel in front of a hostile crowd when he hit the go-ahead two-point basket to bring the Slingers their first-ever lead in the game at 60-59 with 24 seconds left on the clock. The Slinger bench erupted in dispute, claiming a three, because one of the referees had signalled for a three-pointer. However, his two other colleagues overruled him.

Satria Muda’s new import Nakiea Miller then had two opportunities to win the game for his team in the dying seconds but could not deliver and the Slinger bench celebrated a most unexpected victory while the previously vociferous Indonesian support went silent at the buzzer.

Marcus Ng was the unlikely hero for the Slingers after foul trouble in the first quarter dropped him to the bench. He came alive only in the fourth quarter where he delivered nine of his 12 points.

“I picked up those early fouls in the first quarter which slowed me down a bit. It took me to the last quarter to get into the game and I felt I had to do something to help the team out. I was glad that I could get us over the line,” said Marcus.

A one-on-one with head coach Frank Arsego on the sidelines late in the second quarter also gave Marcus something to think about.

Shared Arsego: “Sometimes, in these sorts of situation, you have to respond. You have to be the player that everyone believes that you are. To be honest, I didn’t think Marcus was close in the first half. He was all over the place. I don’t know where he was but he just couldn’t get going. He needed some positive encouragement. You have to somehow wake him up.

“The beautiful thing was, once we made that little change in that fourth quarter about how we wanted to play, it opened up the game for him personally. And then he really stepped up. He was the match winner. Wei Jian put the icing on the cake but he [Marcus] gave us the opportunity to have a chance at the win. His drives to the basket and that three-point shot – they were the things that gave us a chance,” added Arsego.

Marcus recalled that intense court-side conversation: “He told me to get back into the game. Make sure I was strong with the ball and be aggressive and try and get some open looks and get to the basket.”

Marcus started the Slinger comeback when he sank a three-pointer off a Michael LeBlanc assist for the Slingers to trail by seven (53-59) with 3:11 left. Marcus then delivered another two points, reducing the deficit to four (55-59), at 1:34 on the clock.

Hong Wei Jian then took up the scoring with a three-pointer to bring the Slingers to within one (58-59) before Satria Muda’s Hartman melted down with his two free-throw misses.

The Slinger defensive intensity kept Satria Muda from scoring for the last 3:29 of the fourth to help pull out their league-leading fifth victory.

“Sometimes your group has got it in them. They did something similar in Brunei where we had to come from behind and forge ahead. I think we just found a way as a group to produce points which we had problems with earlier in the game. We found ways to get good, good looks,” said Arsego.

“I’m very proud of the boys because what we threw in there wasn’t something that we were working on for weeks and weeks but it was an adjustment on the run. They were very focused. I think that’s a real key thing if you want to win a game like that,” said Arsego.

The Slingers improve to a 5-1 win-loss record and remain top of the league while Satria Muda fell to 3-3 for third place. The top four in the six-team league qualify for the playoffs in early 2010.

Quarter by Quarter Scores
Satria Muda vs Slingers
1st Q: 19-14
2nd Q: 11-11
3rd Q: 15-18
4th Q: 14-18

Satria Muda BritAma Game Box Score

Singapore Slingers Game Box Score

Singapore Slingers 2009/10 ABL schedule

For full ABL fixture schedule, go to: ABL Fixtures