Story by Tamara Lie/Red Sports and Dylan Chua/Red Sports. Photos by Chan Hua Zheng/Red Sports and Clara Yuan/Red Sports.
Justin Howard (Slingers #55) looks to go for a layup. Howard led Slingers with 25 points and 10 rebounds. (Photo 1 © Clara Yuan/Red Sports)
OCBC Arena, Sunday, February 14, 2016 — Singapore Slingers fell 80-89 to rivals Malaysia Dragons as they lost at home for the second straight Asean Basketball League (ABL) game. The loss also meant that Slingers relinquished top spot in the ABL regular season standings to their opponents in the process.
Johnson Reginald Denari (#42) led the Dragons with a huge 33 points and 17 rebounds. Justin Howard (Slingers #55) finished with a team-high 25 points and 10 rebounds for the home team.
Wu Qing De (Slingers #7) commented, “I think we have a good start but towards the end we gave up a few easy baskets and i think we have to work it out next week on our off days. We have to improve on our transition defense as we gave them a lot of easy fastbreaks.”
A mid-range pull-up by Kris Rosales (Slingers #11) on the first possession helped set the pace for the home team. Kris scored 10 of his 14 points in the 1st quarter alone as the Slingers led 22-19 after one.
With the score tied at 24 apiece, the Dragons went on a game-changing 9-0 run to lead 33-24 and they never trailed from that point on.
The Slingers refused to back down and made it a one possession game at 39-42 early in the 2nd half. Yet, failure to get defensive stops late in the game would prove to be the downfall of the Slingers as they never got within striking distance.
The highlight of the game came in the 4th quarter when Calvin Jerome Godfrey (Dragons #40) threw down an alley-oop dunk to silence the home crowd and got the Dragons bench on their feet.
Subsequently, a two-handed hammer by Johnson (Dragons #42) with 2:12 remaining was the exclamation point as he put the Dragons up 10 at 85-75.
Wong Wei Long (Slingers #5) said, “Many of our shots came up short. We just have to keep practising and re-address our defense and try to become better the next game.”
With regard to the playoff picture, Slingers Coach Neo Beng Siang stated, “We really need to secure and take care of our own business. We have two more games to put ourselves in the position that we want.”
Both teams now hold a 14-4 record with the Dragons holding top spot courtesy of a superior points difference. Slingers next play Mono Vampire Basketball Club on 19 February. Tip-off is 2pm at the Sripatum University Stadium.
Dragons next face Hi-Tech Bangkok City in a crucial match that might go a long way in deciding both teams’ playoff seeding. Tip-off is 7pm at HiTech Gym on 17 February.
Score by Quarter
Slingers vs Dragons
1st Quarter: 22-19
2nd Quarter: 15-23 (37-42)
3rd Quarter: 23-28 (60-70)
4th Quarter: 20-19 (80-89)
Top Scorers
Singapore Slingers
Howard Justin Aronel (#55) – 25 points
Alexander Xavier Allen (#15) – 21 points
Rosales Krismoir Sajise (#11) – 14 points (1 x 3 pointer)
Malyasia Dragons
Johnson Reginald Denari (#42) – 33 points
Brickman Jason Alexander (#5) – 21 points
Wright Matthew Andrew (#7) – 18 points (2 x 3 pointer)
Singapore Slingers Roster
Oh Wei Jie Desmond (#2), Wong Wei Long (#5), Wu Qingde (#7), Toh Qing Huang (#8), Kwek Wei Meng Leon (#10), Rosales Krismoir Sajise (#11), Alexander Xavier Allen (#15), Ng Han Bin (#17), Lim Hong Da Kelvin (#22), Goh Kok Chiang Delvin (#23), Howard Justin Aronel (#55)
Malaysia Dragons Roster
Brickman Jason Alexander (#5), Wright Matthew Andrew (#7), Choo Wei Hong (#8), Yeo Ivan (#10), Wang Yi Hou (#11), Kwaan Yoong Jing (#13), Loh Shee Fai (#20), Kamaruddin Izran Edika (#23), Godfrey Calvin Jerome (#40), Johnson Reginald Denari (#42), Kuek Tian Yuan (#55), Wong Wee Seng (#66)
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