By Koh Yizhe/Red Sports
Rashad Jones-Jennings (Slingers #24) gets fouled by Karl Dehesaa (Heat #1) as he tries to drive to the basket. Jones-Jennings had a game-high 24 points and 23 rebounds. (Photo 1 © Joseph Lee/Red Sports)
Singapore Indoor Stadium, Sunday, February 17, 2013 – The Singapore Slingers responded to a heavy road defeat at the hands of the Indonesia Warriors by recording their third victory of the season with an 80-69 triumph over the Saigon Heat in the ASEAN Basketball League.
Leading the way for the Slingers was Rashad Jones-Jennings, who scored a game-high 24 points and pulled down 23 rebounds.
Wong Wei Long, who did not travel with the Slingers to Indonesia, netted a career-high 20 points including five three-pointers and dished out four assist while Kyle Jeffers had a double-double with 16 points and 17 rebounds.
For the third home game this season, the Slingers nearly let a double-digit lead slip before they managed to hang on for victory. This time, a third quarter 19-point lead was trimmed down to just four with a little over two minutes remaining.
Fortunately for the Slingers, disaster was adverted as they went on a 9-2 run to win the game and improve their win-loss record to 3-3.
“We needed to win and we did!” said a relieved captain Jeffers.
“That is the most important thing. Putting teams away has been a problem for us and it is something we need to work on. When they’re down, we have to keep them down.“
The Saigon Heat depended on Jai Reyes and David Palmer to carry the team. Reyes may have dislocated his finger in the first quarter, but he still managed to rain 22 points on the home side, scoring 10 in the final quarter as he single-handed dragged his team back into the game. Palmer had 20 points and 16 boards.
With Heat top scorer Dior Lowhorn out with a tight hamstring, the Slingers definitely had a size advantage heading into the match and out-rebounded the Heat 54-26, scoring 17 second-chance points as a result.
However, they were not able to capitalize on it in the opening minutes as they depended on the outside shot which failed to fall.
Dulay missed four shots from beyond the arc in the first 10 minutes as the Slingers were unable to make any of their nine three-point attempts. The first quarter ended all square at 16-all.
The Slingers finally clicked in the second quarter as their bigs exerted their dominance on the visitors, bossing the paint through the quarter. Jeffers and Jones-Jennings were excellent at the low post as they both had 12 points by the end of the half.
From the outside, Wei Long was having a field day as well. The 24-year-old point guard rained down 13 points in the second period, including three treys, as the Slingers held a comfortable 44-32 lead at the half.
It was the same story in the third quarter as the Slingers continued to outrebound the Heat. A Jones-Jennings layup made it a 19-point lead after just four and a half third-quarter minutes as the Heat looked defeated.
It did not help that they were in foul trouble when Mathew Dehesa collected his fifth foul even before the fourth quarter began.
However, just like in last week’s game, the Slingers got sloppy. Both the Slingers’ attack and defence failed to maintain their concentration and the Heat chipped away at the lead with Reyes nailing a couple from beyond the arc.
Palmer also did well to make his chances count against Jeffers and Jones-Jennings and soon the lead was down to four.
Still, they were unable to make it a one-possession game as the Slingers responded with a 9-2 run to end the match and secure the win.
Coach Neo Beng Siang highlighted complacency as one of the reasons why his charges nearly blew their lead.
“We started off playing well and making use of the size inside,” said coach Neo.
“We knew we had to take advantage of that, but after we led by 17 points, we became sloppy at both ends of the floor. We gave them the opportunity to cut it down to four. Good teams will turn a 17-point lead into a 25-point one.”
“A couple of players were complacent.”
The Slingers will travel to Ho Chi Minh City to face the Saigon Heat in their next game and it is one Heat head coach Jason Rabeddeaux is looking forward to as he welcomes the return of Lowhorn.
“We’re a completely different team once Lowhorn is back,” declared the American head coach.
“This is definitely a game we are going to learn from and do better in the coming fixture. We We have got to rebound the ball more and offensively, we have to move the ball and we will be fine.”
The match will be shown ‘live’ on Fox Asia on February 22nd, at 8pm.
Score by Quarters
Slingers vs Heat
1st Q: 16-16
2nd Q: 28-16 (44-32)
3rd Q: 20-17 (64-49)
4th Q: 16-20 (80-69)
Slingers: Jones-Jennings — 24 pts, Wei Long — 20 pts, Jeffers — 16 pts, Cabatu — 7, Oh — 5 pts, Dulay — 4 pts, Folkoff — 4 pts.
Saigon Heat: Reyes – 22, Palmer – 20, Tieu – 12, Wisnieski – 11, Morrison – 2, Dehesa – 2.
