Slingers miss chance to seal second place in ABL loss to Dragons

Story by Erwin Wong/Red Sports in Kuala Lumpur

MABA Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Sunday, January 17, 2010 - The KL Dragons went local, and then went loco - Spanish for crazy – from three-point range, as they made 10 treys in beating the Singapore Slingers 78-71 to stay alive in the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) playoff hunt.

Loh Shee Fai kept up his hot shooting against the Slingers and led the Dragons with 17 points on six of seven shooting. Little-used forward John Ng, who scored only four points all season long, added 12 and Guganeswaran Batumalai chipped in with 11, as the local-born players contributed 48 of the team's points.

Michael LeBlanc overcame a slow start to lead the Slingers with 19 points, and Kyle Jeffers added 17 points and 10 rebounds for his 11th double-double of the season, but the team had scant reply for their opponent's red-hot shooting.

An 8-0 Slinger run capped by Al Vergara's baseline jumper gave the visitors a 16-8 lead with less than four minutes to go in the first quarter, but 10 straight points by the Dragons swung the momentum firmly in their favour. John scored five points and Shee Fai added a trey to the delight of the capacity 2000-strong crowd in the MABA Stadium, which was packed to the brim and had to turn more supporters away.

The home fans had more to cheer for in this final home game for the Dragons. The team led 24-18 after the first period and shot above 50% from the field in the second, as they nearly tripled that first quarter advantage after John's dribble and lay up past a static Pathman Matialakan gave the Dragons a 17-point, 42-25 lead.

John was doing it at the other end of the floor as well, keeping LeBlanc, the Slingers' leading scorer at 18.5 points a game, in check with three points on only two shots at the half, which the Dragons led 44-31.

Chris Kuete, who is also leading the Dragons in scoring with 18.5 points a game, was having as ineffectual a game as LeBlanc at that stage, missing all six of his shots. Both finally came to life in the third quarter, but the difference was that the Cameroonian had help from his teammates.

LeBlanc had six of the Slingers' first nine third-quarter points, but Kuete scored nine straight for the Dragons, who kept up their high shooting percentage from the field. The lively Guga, who had a massive game with 11 points, five rebounds, eight assists and four steals, became the sixth Dragon to make his mark from downtown, and John then capped the 15-9 run with another long-range dagger to extend their lead to 19, the largest of the game.

The Dragons finished the third period with nine three pointers on 18 attempts, and on pace to threaten the ABL single-game record of 14 three-pointers. They led 66-49 after half an hour, but cooled off considerably in the final quarter as the Slingers fought to make a game of it.

They impressively restricted the Dragons to a measly one field goal in the final period, and closed to within 11 after Vergara found Marcus with one of his season-high tying eight assists to make it 67-56, but Shee Fai scored that field goal - appropriately a three-pointer - when he banked in one from beyond the arc as the shot clock expired.

That dagger shot capped another strong shooting performance against the Slingers for the 21-year old who had just celebrated his birthday yesterday, and he has now made 12 of 15 shots against the Singapore team in three games.

The Slingers finally got it down to single-digits with 2:40 to play on LeBlanc's lay up which reduced the deficit to nine, but the Dragons survived several empty possessions and nervy turnovers by running the clock out and making their free throws. They converted nine of 12 from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter to make up for their dismal output from the field, and saw the game out to the delight of the home crowd.

The Slingers, who have already clinched a playoff spot, fell to 8-5 in the win-loss column. A win would have confirmed at least second position in the league standings, and home-court advantage in the semi-finals, but they will now have to win one of their two remaining games to be assured of that.

The Dragons, meanwhile, improve to 6-8, although another win by the Brunei Barracudas, who have two games to play, would eliminate them from playoff contention.

N.B. For table standings and other ABL results, please go to this page: ABL Fixtures

Singapore Slingers Game Box Score

KL Dragons Game Box Score

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