ABL: Slingers break league scoring record with 102-61 thumping of Barracudas

By Erwin Wong/Red Sports. Photos by Vanessa Lim and Tan Jon Han/Red Sports

Singapore Indoor Stadium, Sunday, January 9, 2011 – The Singapore Slingers became the first team in the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) to score 100 points in a single game when they routed the Brunei Barracudas 102-61.

Leonidez Avenido led the Slingers with 23 points, Marcus Skinner and Kyle Jeffers added double-doubles in points and rebounds with 19-10 and 10-16 respectively, and point guard Al Vergara was at the heart of everything that the Slingers did well with 15 points, four assists and four steals.

But it was reserve guard and local boy Tan Chin Hong’s turn in the limelight when he scored the record 99th and 100th point after stripping Barracudas’ leading scorer Chris Commons of the ball in the front court, and then going on to convert the uncontested lay up.

“I didn’t think of stealing the ball from Commons, but to just stop the ball from advancing,” said the 20-year-old, who has seen only 19 minutes of court action this season. “I got lucky and stole it.”

That broke the previous ABL record of 98, which Satria Muda BritAma managed almost exactly a year ago on January 10, also against the Barracudas.

The Slingers are neck-and-neck for the fourth and final playoff spot with the Indonesian side. Satria Muda have a 2-1 series advantage over the Slingers as a tie-breaker should both teams finish the regular season with identical win-loss records.

Satria Muda walloped confirmed-first seed Thailand Slammers 91-68 yesterday, and the Slingers needed a win today to stay ahead of the Indonesian team which has won six and lost eight matches.

The Slingers effectively had their final home game of the season sewn up in the first quarter, when they not only scored a season-high 27 points in the opening period, but held the Barracudas to an astounding 0-of-15 shooting from the field. Christopher Garnett scored his team’s only two points from the free throw line, as the Slingers starting five of Vergara, Jeffers, Skinner, Avenido and Pathman Matialakan got on the scoreboard and poured in basket upon fast break basket.

Slingers’ head coach Neo Beng Siang did not quite expect his charges to forge a 25-point lead after only 10 minutes of play.

“I was a little surprised. We told them to come out aggressive and keep on running, because we are a running team. That’s our main advantage. If we stop running, it’s difficult for us to settle down and play our offense.”

“That said, it was an impressive start where we limited them to two points, both on free throws, in the first quarter,” said coach Neo.

The Barracudas themselves have held an opponent to only two points in the opening period, and like the Patriots on November 6, they found their cold start impossible to overhaul. The Slingers continued to build their advantage while forcing their Bruneian counterparts to shoot poorly, and led 52-20 and 75-32 after the second and third periods.

Avenido and Vergara sat out the final quarter, while Jeffers and and Skinner were yanked from the game before the final five minutes. That led to the rarity of five local Slingers taking to the court at the same time, with the luxury of a 40-point lead. At times, it looked like men versus boys as Garnett and Commons, who scored 25 and 21 points respectively, pounded the lane against the smaller-sized local Slingers, but the latter actually managed to build their lead up to as many as 45.

A Steven Khoo three-pointer with more than five minutes to play made it 89-44, and had the fans baying for a hundred points. That seemed like a lost cause when Desmond Oh missed a jumper with 27 seconds to go at 98-60, but Chin Hong stepped in with the steal and record-setting lay up.

The 41-point victory was also the largest in the two-year old ABL, but coach Neo called for clear heads in their final regular season game against league leaders Thailand Slammers next Saturday.

“We just wanted a win, that’s all. It doesn’t matter if it’s by 40, 2 or 1. Hopefully we will just stick to what we’re working on at the offensive and defensive end, and to stay positive and not slack against the Slammers.”

The Slingers’ second consecutive win – their first winning streak of the season – puts them at 7-7 in the win-loss column. They will have the luxury of knowing Satria Muda’s result against the Patriots before they take to the court two hours later against the Slammers. A Satria Muda loss will guarantee the Slingers a playoff spot, but a win by the former will mean that nothing less than a Slingers road victory will suffice.

Game notes: Avenido made four three-pointers, extending his single-season record to 54… Jeffers had his league-leading 13th double-double in 14 games… He also has nine steals in his last two games, boosting his league-leading average to two a game… Garnett has now scored at least 20 points in six consecutive games. Satria Muda’s Marcus Morrison also had a similar six-game streak earlier this season… The 41-point win by the Slingers eclipses the previous record victory margin of 35 by Satria Muda on November 8, 2009. They won 97-62 and the huge win also came at the expense of the Barracudas.

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