Story by Jiexin Neo/Red Sports. Photos by Joseph Lee and Low Sze Sen/Red Sports
Desmond Oh (Slingers #2) hustling for the ball on the ground while Johnson (Warriors #20) tries to pry the ball out of his hands. (Photo 1 © Joseph Lee/Red Sports)
OCBC Arena, Friday, August 22, 2014 – Despite the new addition of Dior Lowhorn to the squad, the Singapore Slingers failed to take the win against the Indonesia Warriors, going down 54–65 in the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL).
The Singapore Slingers last met the Indonesia Warriors at home, where they registered an 80–59 win and also lost Larry Liew to an injury during the game.
Dior Lowhorn (#33) led the Slingers with 18 points, while Kyle Jeffers (#31) registered 10 points and 10 boards. Russel Low (#31) contributed 10 points to the game. On the other hand, Tremayne Jaron Johnson (#20) led the Warriors with 14 points, while Christian Markell Ellis (#19) had 13 points and took down 14 boards.
“I’m really sorry we had to lose today. I think our defence is already good, we probably have to work on our offence and rebound. I feel good coming into the ABL, but it feels different coming back in the middle of the season. It’s still good to be back and be playing for Singapore, good country, good team,” commented Lowhorn, the Slingers’ new signing.
Ng Hanbin (#6) sank a three to open the scoring for the Slingers. Midway through the first quarter, the Slingers were leading 7–4, but the Warriors managed to level at 7–7 through John Smith’s 3-pointer. The Warriors took their first lead of the game when Smith netted another three to make it 10–9. They went on a 7–3 scoring run thereafter to end the first quarter with a 17–12 lead.
Lowhorn (#33) finished strong against his defender to put in the first two points for the second quarter. He played a crucial offensive role for the team and contributed to the bulk of the points, leading the team this quarter with 11 points alone. With three minutes to go, Slingers allowed Warriors to take down eight points straight to take their biggest lead of the game (32–25).
Thereafter, Russel (#32) stopped Slingers’ scoring drought with a two on the key, and managed a good shot block in the next transition to force a turnover. With combined team effort, the Slingers put together an 8–2 scoring run to reduce their deficit to one point going into the halftime break (33–34).
The Warriors challenged Slingers’ defence with seven unanswered points to start the third quarter. For the Slingers, Russel (#32) made commendable shot defences and finished strong in the paint offensively, but it was not enough to match Warriors’ scoring. Slingers paled in their performance this quarter and allowed Warriors a 10-point lead by the end of the third quarter (45–55).
Smith (#16) from the Warriors made his shot early into the closing quarter to make it 58–45. Slingers’ Jeffers (#31) then retaliated with four points of his own to reduce the deficit to a single digit, and committed his fourth personal foul with six minutes remaining in regulation. Despite their valiant efforts, the Slingers were unable to catch up with the scoring and had to go down with a 54–65 loss to the Indonesia Warriors.
“We were terrible today. No energy, no ethusiasm, and to be honest, a little bit of lack of heart. I hope we would quickly turn around and get ready for the game on Sunday,” said the Slingers assistant coach Michael Johnson.
The Singapore Slingers currently have a win-loss record of 5–4. They will face Hi-Tech Bangkok City in their next home game on Sunday, August 31, 2014.
Scoring by Quarter
Singapore Slingers vs Indonesia Warriors
1st Quarter: 12–17
2nd Quarter: 21–17 (33–34)
3rd Quarter: 12–21 (45–55)
4th Quarter: 9–10 (54–65)
Scorers
Singapore Slingers: Lowhorn – 18, Jeffers – 10, Low – 10, Wong – 7, Vergara – 4, Ng – 3, Oh – 2.
Indonesia Warriors: Johnson – 14, Ellis – 13, Smith – 12, Sitepu – 9, Surawi – 8, Lakudu – 5, Wisnu – 4.
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