By Les Tan/Red Sports
The Slingers (in red) came away from the intimidating BritAma Arena with a remarkable win. (Photo 1 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Saturday, November 21, 2009 – The league-leading Singapore Slingers will entertain the KL Dragons at home tomorrow in the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) with a full roster for the first time in three weeks.
The Slingers, sporting a 5-1 win-loss record in the six-team league, also welcome back point guard Wong Wei Long who was down with the chicken pox virus which caused him to miss the last two away games. Lim Wai Sian, who also fell victim to the virus, also resumed training this week.
The KL Dragons had initially started the ABL campaign with only two American imports, Aaron Lynch and Jamal Brown, leaving the three ASEAN slots unfilled. Each team in the ABL is allowed a maximum two international and three ASEAN players on their roster.
After winning only one of their first three games, the Dragons dropped Lynch and brought in Cameroonian Daniel Lonichi and Filipinos Fhadzmir Bandaying and Rudy Lingganay. The three new imports helped the Dragons to a close 79-78 win over the Thailand Tigers.
The Dragons finally filled their last ASEAN spot the week after when another Filipino, Roel Hugnatan, was added for the game against the Tigers in Bangkok. The Dragons however lost that game 88-71.
Slingers head coach Frank Arsego is well aware of the Dragons’ added firepower.
"Malaysia have added three Filipino players in the last few weeks to their line-up and combined with their significant depth, gave the Philippine Patriots a real scare last Sunday,” said Coach Arsego. "They rallied in the third quarter against the Philippines to take a 54-48 lead into the final period but ran out of steam in the final quarter to go down 73-63 in the end.”
The Dragons sport a 2-4 record and their import Lonichi registered a double-double last week against the Patriots despite the loss. Lonichi had 13 points and 11 rebounds while Rudy Lingganay (10 points) and Roel Hugnatan (10) also registered double figures.
The return of Wei Long and Wai Sian to the lineup gives coach Arsego a full roster for the first time in three weeks.
"Even though we are 5-1, the last few weeks have not been clear sailing for the Slingers,” noted Coach Arsego. "The most pleasing aspect has been that we have never given up in any game, and with our depth of players we have found a combination to get the job done.”
The Slingers are coming off a remarkable 61-59 win over Satria Muda BritAma last weekend in Jakarta. Down 10 points with 3:26 left to play, the Slingers came back to take the lead with 24 seconds left through Hong Wei Jian. The 12-0 run the Slingers put together stunned the Satria Muda players.
Match Details
Singapore Slingers vs KL Dragons
Singapore Indoor Stadium
Sunday, November 22, 2009
4pm
For the cheapest Slingers ticket in town at $6 courtesy of Red Sports for students only, go to this link: http://redsports.sg/2009/11/18/cheapest-slinger-ticket-abl/
Marcus Ng (left) came alive in the final quarter to anchor the Slingers to victory. Al Vergara (right) limped out in the last minutes of the game against Satria Muda but is expected to be back against the Dragons. (Photo 2 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Michael Wong (right) celebrates with Pathman and the rest of the team after the victory in Jakarta. (Photo 3 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Steven Khoo flew to Jakarta with the Slingers for his first away game. (Photo 4 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Kyle Jeffers and Pathman (right) celebrate the win against Satria Muda … (Photo 5 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
… while assistant coach Neo Beng Siang hugs one of the big men. (Photo 6 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Desmond Oh suffered a cut when he clashed with Rony Gunawan of Satria Muda. Desmond was sent to the hospital for stitches. (Photo 7 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
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