Slingers chalk up morale-boosting 69-66 ABL win over Tigers in thrilling finish

Story by Erwin Wong and Koh Yizhe/Red Sports. Photos by REDintern Tan Jon Han.

Singapore Indoor Stadium, Thursday, December 17, 2009 - The Singapore Slingers were desperate for a victory.

And this frantic, frenzied need to win ultimately edged them past the Thailand Tigers 69-66 in a heart-stopping, backs-to-wall, come-from-behind triumph.

Kyle Jeffers led the team with 20 points and 13 rebounds, while Michael LeBlanc and Marcus Ng added 15 and nine each, as the trio helped the Slingers overcome a 10-point half time deficit by scoring 30 of the team's 40 second-half points.

LeBlanc hit the go-ahead jumper with 14 seconds left and Jeffers scored three points and had an assist and a block in those flurried closing seconds to carry the Slingers to a victory they badly needed.

After jumping out to four straight wins to begin their ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) campaign, the Slingers suddenly went cold and lost four of their next five games. The rest of the league seemed to have seen through the Slingers and they were mired in an inexplicable slump which Slinger head coach Frank Arsego attributed to a lack of total team effort.

Stuck in a rut and with the only way seemingly up, they faced a Tigers team whose last win came was against them two Mondays ago. They won that contest 65-62 in the Indoor Stadium as well, but unlike that match when the Slingers made up a huge deficit only to fall just short at the death, the home team somehow found a way to win this time.

"We did well to come back, and it was a good effort from all of us," said co-captain Michael Wong, who sat out due to a hurt shin. "It was an important game as we had been struggling of late. It's a very big game. We really needed this win badly."

Jeffers, who had his eighth double-double in 10 games with 20 points and 13 rebounds, provided the early energy for the Slingers. He scored five points and had a great block of Attaporn Lertmalaiporn's lay up attempt, but it was Piyapong Piroon and Ratdech Kruatiwa who got their stroke going.

Piroon, who came into the game averaging 6.0 points per game, made a three-pointer for the Tigers' first lead of the game at 6-5, and was then responsible for his team's next five points as the lead changed hands four consecutive times.

It was then Kruatiwa's turn with the hot hand. After Al Vergara broke an 11-all tie with a trey, Kruatiwa responded likewise. He also answered LeBlanc's basket to level the match at 16 apiece, and that provided the impetus for a couple more fast-break conversions for the Tigers, as they ended the first quarter leading 20-16.

Marcus drove the lane and managed to elude the imposing presence of Ikenna Nwankwo to lay it in to make it 23-22 Slingers early in the second period, but that was the last the home team would see of the lead for the next 26 and a half minutes.

Kruatiwa and Piroon scored half of their team's 10 straight points to wrestle back the advantage, and then the team's final seven of the half as the Tigers' display in the period seemed to mirror that in their previous meeting, when they outscored the Slingers 22-7.

It was 19-13 here, but fall-away jumpers, wide-open treys and three-point plays were the order of the second period as Kruatiwa, Piroon and company shot at a torrid pace to deflate the home team as well as the crowd. The deadly duo combined for 28 first-half points on 11 of 15 shooting, and with the Slingers trailing 39-29 at the break, the atmosphere in the Stadium, with most decked out in red, was not one of a warm, fuzzy and Christmassy feeling, but more of an anticipative dread of yet another Slinger loss.

A half-time ´hair-dryer' treatment from coach Arsego ensued.

"Coach scolded us and told us to wake up, that this was not our game, and to show the fans what we could do," said Lim Wai Sian, who played the most minutes of his ABL season.

Backup point guard Wong Wei Long added, "Coach gave us a hard time in the locker room, and emphasized on defence."

Piroon did score again, but his three-pointer three minutes into the second half was the final scoring act of either of the sharp-shooting duo as the Slingers identified the threats and worked to extinguish them.

"We learnt our lesson, that numbers 12 and 23 (Kruatiwa and Piroon) could shoot the ball. We guarded them tightly in the third and fourth quarters and it lowered their shooting percentage," said Wai Sian.

Kruatiwa and Piroon went cold, missing their final 12 shots of the game, but still the Slingers could not make a sustained, convincing run at their opponents. A Marcus 3-point play and Jeffers free throw brought the Slingers to within three at 45-42, but Nwankwo, Glenn Bolocon and Lertmalaiporn all scored to extend the lead back up to eight.

After Jeffers rebounded Hong Wei Jian's miss for a put-back, Tigers’ Axel Doruelo drained his second trey of the night for a 55-48, seven-point Tiger lead with 23 seconds to play in the third quarter.

That lead grew to nine midway through the final period as Lertmalaiporn, the 10th leading scorer in the league at 15 points a game, began to assert his influence. But the Slingers continued to plough away at their opponents despite missed lay ups, botched free throws and careless turnovers.

"We played like a team, and we supported one another. Even though we were down by 10 points (at half-time), we continued to encourage one another," said Wei Long. Michael Wong added, "We played with the heart, the intensity and the effort, and had the desire not to lose."

Like men possessed, the Slingers finally came to within a hair's breadth of the Tigers. Vergara's three-pointer and Marcus' finish on the 3 on 1 brought the home crowd to its feet, as the Tigers only led 61-60 with two and a half minutes to play.

Lertmalaiporn's lay up upon resumption and one of two free throws soon after quieted the crowd, but one sensed that the Slingers were not to be denied this time. Marcus split a pair from the charity stripe and the Slingers then caught a lucky break on the loose ball as Nwankwo fouled Jeffers, who then also made one of two from the line as the Tigers were in the penalty zone.

Nwankwo himself went to the line and made one for a 65-62 Tiger lead, but a foul by Doruelo right on the Slingers inbounds play deep in their own half sent Vergara to the charity stripe, where he made the Tigers pay for that soft foul by converting both to make it a one-point game (64-65) once again.

Vergara turned it over in the Slingers' next possession, resulting in a foul on Lertmalaiporn. Lertmalaiporn came into the game shooting 73.8% from the free throw line but could once again only make one of two (66-64) with 35 seconds left, opening the door to a thrilling finale.

The Slingers inbounded after a timeout, and Vergara found Jeffers inside who was fouled as he scored, bringing the stadium to its feet as the game was tied at 66. Lost in the celebrations was the fact that it was Nwankwo's fifth foul of the game and he could play no further part in it.

And it got better for the Slingers.

Jeffers missed the free throw - part of a 10 of 22 team showing in the second half - but Wei Jian was quickest to react, tipping the loose ball to Jeffers, who found LeBlanc lurking on the baseline. LeBlanc needed no second invitation and coolly sank the jumper.

The crowd went wild at this point, but with 14 seconds remaining, a two-point lead and possession Tigers, the Slingers were clear on their defensive strategy.

"We were not going to let them have the three-pointer," explained Wei Long matter-of-factly.

The Slingers executed brilliantly. Stretching out to prevent the long-range shot, they forced the Tigers to go inside, where Jeffers blocked Piroon's shot and was fouled with no time left on the clock.

The Slinger bench invaded the court to celebrate the win, as did the fans, but there was still the small matter of two free throws to shoot. Jeffers made one, and the sight of Desmond Oh clambering onto the big centre as the game officially ended showed how badly the Slingers wanted to win this one.

"It's a springboard for us. It's a momentum-breaker, and we've got the monkey off our backs," said Michael Wong. Jeffers added, "It's never fun to lose, but when we win, we'll take advantage of it."

Desmond, who played a crucial defensive role in shutting down the threats of Kruatiwa and Piroon after half-time, said, "I am very happy that we won today! I believe my defending was the best part of my game today, but right now, it is back to the training ground where we have to work harder. We will play a better game in our next outing, instead of playing catch-up."

Their next home game on January 6 will see the visit of the league leaders Philippine Patriots, who have won a league-high seven games. When asked where the Slingers would go from this morale-boosting win, Jeffers replied, "We will get better. We will have a two-week break, and then come together as a team and face the Patriots."

Quarter by Quarter Scores
Singapore Slingers v Thailand Tigers
1st Q: 16-20
2nd Q: 13-19
3rd Q: 21-16
4th Q: 19-11

Singapore Slingers Game Box Score

Thailand Tigers Game Box Score

Singapore Slingers 2009/10 ABL schedule