Gritty Slingers overturn 15-point deficit to beat PBA champs San Miguel 71-65 in final pre-season match

Story by Erwin Wong and Jan Lin/Red Sports. Photos by Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports.

Singapore Indoor Stadium, Sunday, October 4, 2009 - The Singapore Slingers were in a hole they never once experienced during the three 2009 Challenge Series basketball games they have played so far.

Down 15 points late in the third quarter against the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Fiesta Conference champions, the San Miguel Beermen, the Slingers looked down and out, and likely to lose their third straight game after consecutive 67-70 and 72-77 setbacks to Smart Gilas Pilipinas and Barangay Ginebra Kings respectively.

But the Slingers stormed back from their first double-digit deficit in four games with guts and gumption to close out their pre-season preparations for the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) with a huge come-from-behind 71-65 win over San Miguel.

And the new-look Slingers, much-changed from the 2008 edition, appear to have quickly learnt from their crucial mistakes made during crunch time of the Ginebra defeat four days ago. Then, they let slip a seven-point fourth quarter lead with a combination of careless turnovers and decision-making errors, and the team, without much fluidity, seemed in disarray.

It was the polar opposite today.

Trailing by as many as 15 points in the third period and 10 in the fourth, the Slingers got the defensive stops they needed by staying mentally alert in the final quarter, and as the Beermen began to unravel, the Slingers made clutch shots from the field and the line to seal the game at the death.

Slingers' coach Frank Arsego sent out his fourth consecutive changed lineup in as many games: Al Vergara, Hong Wei Jian, Marcus Ng, Michael LeBlanc and Kyle Jeffers were on the floor at tip-off against San Miguel's five of Jonas Villanueva, Donaldo Hontiveros, Arwind Santos, Dorian Pena and Mick Pennisi, and it was the latter quintet which led for most of the quarter.

The visitors had a 14-9 advantage, but a 9-0 Slinger run bridging the end of the first period and the start of the second gave the home team their first meaningful lead of the game. From then on till the late Slinger run, it was all San Miguel, as they seemed a step quicker and a leap higher than the Slingers, who never really found their shooting stroke.

Mike Cortez scored seven quick points and the six feet nine inch Pennisi drained his second three-pointer of the game as the Beermen wrestled the initiative back. The Slingers shot only 4 of 15 from the field in this quarter and racked up seven turnovers in this second 10 minutes, but managed to stay in the game and trailed only by three at the half-time interval.

Hontiveros opened the second-half scoring with a trey, and proceeded to stamp his authority on the game as he lit up the Slingers for 13 of San Miguel's first 17 points. He constantly burned the home team as he got free on the right wing for open shots, and by the time the dust had settled on his scoring spree, the Beermen led by 12 after the Slingers had closed it to four early in the half.

The visitors were not done yet, and after Pathman made a long jumper with time winding down on the shot-clock to stop the bleeding, Pennisi got free on the perimeter for another successful make from downtown, and a 15-point Beermen lead.

It looked unassailable at this point and a blowout seemed imminent, but Wei Jian made a free throw and a Wei Long steal and layup followed by Marcus' trey made it a 10-point game. The Australian-Chinese then drove and dished to an open Pathman, who made the jumper for two of his team-leading six third-quarter points, and more importantly, the lead reduced to single-digits as the period ended with the Slingers trailing 45-53.

A Cortez basket got the lead back up to 10, but Vergara, Pathman, Michael Wong contributed consecutive points before Marcus stole the ball and went all the way for a lay up to tie the game at 55. The 15-point deficit seemed light years away, but the Slingers still had work to do.

San Miguel went up again by four after an alley-oop layup by Santos, but Wei Long made a three-pointer to shrink the lead to one, and after Pena scored inside, LeBlanc converted a three-point play to level the scores at 64 with less than three minutes to play as the smaller Slinger crowd presence started to make its voice heard.

A Jeffers free throw after Pennisi's fifth foul gave the Slingers their first lead since 18-17 early in the second quarter, and Desmond maintained his nerves to sink two more clutch shots from the charity stripe to increase the Slinger lead. The Beermen turned it over - their second consecutive in as many possessions - before LeBlanc drained a fade-away jump shot with no time left on the shot-clock for the dagger, and a 69-64 lead.

San Miguel failed to take care of the ball the next trip down - something which the Slingers did in the same waning moments of the previous match - and it was free throws from then on, as the Beermen were forced to foul. The final buzzer came after Jeffers stole a pass, and put the lid on a gritty, backs-to-wall performance which augurs well for the start of the Slingers' ABL season next Sunday.

LeBlanc led the Slingers with 14 points, but it was a balanced scoring effort from his teammates. Jeffers got his third straight double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Pathman bounced back from a poor effort the last time round with 13 points on 5 of 7 shooting. Vergara added 10 points and three assists, while Michael Wong and Wei Long also made timely three-pointers to keep the game close at crucial points.

Desmond closed down Hontiveros' hot hand in the fourth quarter, forcing the latter to miss his only two shots of the period, while collective team defence restricted the PBA champions to only 12 points in the final 10 minutes, while being forced into seven turnovers.

Of course, the Beermen might point to the 26 to 10 disparity in free throw attempts, but they did not help their own cause by making only 2 of them.

“I think we just self-destructed in the final quarter,” conceded San Miguel’s assistant coach Gee Abanilla.

Abanilla went on to elaborate: “I feel we did well in the first 3 quarters but in the fourth quarter, particularly the last 3 to 4 minutes, we couldn't stay focused and we didn't score at the final minutes when the points really count.”

“That's the thing about basketball, you should be really concentrating and focusing in times like this, to make the points count,” asserted Abanilla.

The Filipino had only words of praise for the home team.

“I think the Slingers are a very good team, they are very well coached. I think they played good defense and we just got out-rebounded in the fourth quarter. They took a lot of turnovers and converted a lot of these turnovers, I think that did it for us,” said Abanilla.

He added: “I think it was a total team effort for them because the 2 big guys, the American imports, could play inside and outside and the locals and Filipino, Al Vergara, they all played well. I'm just impressed.”

The story of the previous game against Ginebra was the turnover count and a lack of total team effort. Today it was one of a squad which worked hard for one another when the chips were down, never gave in and came away with an excellent win against a more-than-competent opponent.

The Slingers are truly ready for the ABL.

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