Story by Koh Yizhe/Red Sports. Photos by Joseph Lee and Lim Yong Teck/Red Sports
Larry Liew (Slingers #11) shooting from range. He finished the game with 8 points including two 3-pointers and was the top scorer among the local players. (Photo 1 © Joseph Lee/Red Sports)
OCBC Arena, Sunday, July 20, 2014 — The Singapore Slingers tipped off their 2014 ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) campaign with a comfortable 62–46 win over league newcomers Laskar Dreya South Sumatra.
The Slingers never trailed throughout the match as they slowly extended their lead to as many as 20 points in the third quarter. However, it was hardly a scoring spectacle as both teams shot poorly. The visitors made just 28 perecent of their shots while the Slingers shot a mere 33 percent from the field.
“A win is a win,” said Slingers head coach Neo Beng Siang.
“It is a good start to the season and a good confidence booster, but we have a lot of tidying up to do. We did well on defence, but our offence was slow. We need to move the ball and not be individualistic. Both teams had a horrible shooting game. Maybe it was the first game and there was too much pressure on the players,” added Neo.
Slingers debutant Hassan Adams poured in a game-high 21 points while Kyle Jeffers had a solid outing as well, with 12 points, 19 rebounds, three assists, three steals and four blocks. It was a balanced scoring effort for the home side, as all but one Slinger that played got on the scoreboard.
“For the most part, it was a good outing,” said Adams.
“I felt good out there. I did not know what to expect but the crowd was fantastic and the game was amazing. I missed a lot of shots and there are areas to improve but overall, I think everyone did their job to get the win.”
Laskar Dreya’s imports Paul Crosby and Falando Jones had 14 and 12 points respectively in the defeat.
Both teams started off nervously as they struggled to get their offence going. Adams finally sparked the game to life as he began an 11–0 run to establish a 16–5 lead with a minute and 35 seconds left in the quarter. The American scored nine points in the quarter as the home side led 21–8 at the end of the first quarter.
Much of the same followed in the second and third quarter as the Slingers opened up a gap between the teams. Coach Neo rotated the minutes well, giving the local bench players plenty of court time. They did not disappoint as they kept up with their Indonesia opponents and contributed to the score-line. That helped the Slingers hold a 50–33 lead heading into the last quarter.
The final 10 minutes saw a comeback of sorts from the visitors. They took full advantage of sloppy ball-handling by the Slingers to cut the lead and eventually won the final quarter 13–12. However, it was not enough to change the result of the match as the Slingers made a victorious start to the season, winning 62–46.
Neo handed starting debuts to local boys Russel Low and Larry Liew. Both did not disappoint as turned in credible performances. 21-year-old Larry, in particular, was the best performing local with eight points and five boards, making a pair of treys.
“I just wanted to do my best,” said Larry.
“I think I still have areas to improve on, like getting stable before taking a shot. I felt I was a bit rushed today. Coach has told the locals to step up and I’m glad we did. We have a week to prepare for the next game and we’ll definitely train hard for it.”
The Slingers will play their next match against Malaysia Dragons on Sunday, July 27, 2014 at the OCBC Arena at 4pm.
Scoring by quarter
Singapore Slingers vs Laskar Dreya
1st Quarter: 21–8
2nd Quarter: 11–9 (32–17)
3rd Quarter: 18–16 (50–33)
4th Quarter: 12–13 (62–46)
Scoring by teams
Singapore Slingers: Adams – 21, Jeffers – 12, Liew – 8, Wu – 6, Oh – 5, Vergara – 4, Wei Long – 2, Hanbin – 2, Low – 2.
Laskar Dreya South Sumatra: Crosby – 14, Jones – 12, Sabara – 4, Joni – 4, Suhandy – 4, Prasetyo – 3, Junaedi – 2 , Anggara – 2, Uneputty – 1.
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