Slingers gun down Satria Muda 87-68 in game 1 of ABL semi-finals

Story by Erwin Wong and Koh Yizhe/Red Sports. Photos by Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports.

Singapore Indoor Stadium, Sunday, January 31, 2010 - There is something about playing Satria Muda BritAma at home in the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) that brings the best out of the Singapore Slingers.

The Slingers shot 51.6% from the field and made 13 consecutive free throws in an 87-68 victory over the Jakarta-based team in Game 1 of the ABL semi-final playoffs. This was the second heavy defeat suffered by Satria Muda at the hands of the Slingers in the same arena, the first being the 34-point rout on November 1 last year when the home team shot a league-high 63.5% from the field.

Michael LeBlanc led the Slingers with 22 points, 10 rebounds and five steals, and Kyle Jeffers added 21 points and 10 rebounds as all five starters reached double figures.

Satria Muda's Alexander Hartman needed 21 shots to score his 21 points, while Nakiea Miller had 18 points and 13 rebounds, but tied an ABL record with eight turnovers, as their team made only 34% of their shots in a game where they were always second-best.

"We've already played three games against them, and this was our fourth. We know a lot about this team. We did a lot of homework, watched a lot of videos, and basically know their weaknesses," said backup centre Pathman Matialakan.

"As the home team in the first play-off game, we wanted to come out aggressive. That was the key today. Coach (Frank Arsego) wanted us to come out aggressive, be on the front foot and take the game to them, and that's what we did. They never recovered from it."

Point guard and floor general Al Vergara opened the scoring with a lay up plus the foul, but missed the ensuing free throw. That proved to be the only miss from the charity stripe until the fourth quarter when Marcus Ng failed to convert. In between, the Slingers, the worst of the four play-off teams in free throw accuracy at 55.9%, made 13 consecutive shots from the line, while establishing a double-digit lead and never allowing Satria Muda into the contest.

The key to that was keeping Hartman and Miller in check. Marcus and Jeffers were the respective ones ear-marked for that role for most of the match, and performed admirably against the pair of teammates who have collectively scored 45% of their team's points in the regular season.

Marcus, who is among the league leaders in fouls per game, finally stayed out of foul trouble and bothered Hartman into a six of 21 shooting performance from the field, while adding 10 points and six rebounds of his own in a standout performance.

"Marcus did a great job on him. He stays in front of him, and is active. Marcus just has to continue to do what he does," said Jeffers as he praised his teammate's effort.

"He's an excellent defender, and I think Hartman has a hard time trying to play against him. He's going to hit his shots, but for the most part, he's not going to have a great night against Marcus. Not many people have great nights against Marcus, unless he's in foul trouble, then they might get off. But Marcus is a solid defender against Hartman."

Jeffers himself restricted Miller to below his league-leading 20.7 points per game average, as the latter's lateral quickness in his post moves was simply not enough to carry his team. Jeffers was modest when asked to appraise his match-up with Miller, saying, "I'll let the stats speak for themselves. We're both pretty solid under the basket, and I think it's a fair matchup for both teams. It's just whoever has the better night."

The Satria Muda centre eventually fouled out with three and a half minutes to go, with his team trailing by 20 and showing little fight in them.

They did keep the game close in the first half, and after Pathman made two free throws to hand the Slingers a 29-17 lead with six minutes left in the half, Satria Muda restricted the home team to just a solitary field goal over the next four minutes, and tied the game at 31 when Jeffers goal-tended Rony Gunawan's lay up.

Satria Muda trailed by only four at the break, but the Slingers, aided by the Hong Wei Jian's energetic second-half display, extended the lead into double-digits as their opponents continued their inept shooting display.

Wei Jian drew two pivotal fouls from Miller, made all four of his free throws and drew special mention from coach Arsego. "We brought him in, in that third quarter, and he was just aggressive, got some free throws, lay ups, and challenged Miller. I'm very proud of him. That was the little spark we needed just to kick on and see whether they would respond. I think they found it hard."

Jeffers beat the third-quarter buzzer with a turnaround jumper to make it a 62-51 Slinger lead, and then the game turned into a rout soon after. LeBlanc led the way with a couple of three-point plays, and scored half of his game-high 22 points in the final period.

A 14-3 run, highlighted by Jeffers' one-handed put-back slam, over the first four minutes of the quarter extended the lead into its twenties. Steven Khoo's lay up gave the Slingers their largest lead of the game at 23, as the home team played with their second unit to close out the game.

Game Two of the best-of-three series will be played in Jakarta on Wednesday, February 3, and if necessary, a third game will take place back in the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Sunday, February 7. But as far as the Slingers' Pathman is concerned, they will hope to avoid playing a Game 3.

"We're not looking forward to coming back here (for Game 3). We want to finish the game off in Indonesia, and come back for a good rest. But all we're thinking of is the game on Wednesday. That's it."

Quarter by Quarter Scores
Slingers vs Satria Muda
1st Q: 16-13
2nd Q: 19-18
3rd Q: 27-20
4th Q: 25-17

Singapore Slingers Game Box Score

Satria Muda BritAma Game Box Score