The normally reticent Slingers crowd finally got into the act as they noisily cheered the home team to a closely fought 86-81 win over Beijing Aoshen Olympian, a team that was based here earlier in the year.
The Slingapore Slingers survived a late fourth quarter onslaught by the visiting Philippines Purefoods team to maintain a perfect 3-0 record this season in front of 6,000 roaring spectators, itself a record turnout.
It's due to a ruling sent by FIBA to all national sports association around the world, explained Mr Wong Liang Han, the CCAB advisor for basketball.
The Slingers put up a stirring 32-18 comeback in the final period for a hard-fought 98-85 victory. Yet the win was marred by an unsportsmanlike foul on star forward Eric Sandrin.
It took a while for the Slingers to get going but there was no stopping the best local professional team once they got into their stride. They overwhelmed Philippine league leaders Air21 124-86 in the first of their two-match series.
"We aim to win every single match at the Singapore Indoor Stadium this season," was Slingers' JJ O'Brien's confident assertion. That boast will surely be tested this coming Wednesday when the Slingers take on Filipino team Air21 for their season's inaugural match.