MABA Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – The visiting JobStreet.com Singapore Slingers struggled against the defense employed by Westports Malaysia Dragons as they fell 85-59. Wong Wei Long led the Slingers with 12 points, while Kyle Jeffers was limited to 11 points.
Dragons’ Chris Eversley scored 25 points and also grabbed 6 steals to lead his team. Justin Knox had 15 points and 13 rebounds. Guard Avery Scharer added 12 points and 8 rebounds including a dazzling 360 layup in the fourth quarter.
The home team had a 14-6 lead midway through the first quarter on Moala Tautuaa’s putback slam after Eversley missed a tough layup. However, the Dragons were unable to take care of the ball that eventually cost them their lead. The Slingers closed the first quarter on a 10-0 run which was started on a reverse layup from Delvin Goh. The run gave the Slingers a 21-18 lead after 10 minutes.
The Dragons reclaimed their lead in the second quarter at 24-23 on a putback from Eversley with 6:40 left before halftime. The Slingers could never find their rhythm and only scored 8 in the 2nd quarter. Meanwhile, the Dragons’ offense were hitting on all cylinders. Tautuaa threw down a one-handed slam to give Dragons a 37-26 lead with 2:32 before halftime. Late in the second quarter, Eversley took advantage of a mismatch on the post to score an easy layup to help Malaysia secure a 43-29 lead heading into the locker room.
The Slingers stayed within striking distance in the third quarter. Wong Wei Long drained a corner 3 and Desmond Oh split his free throws to cut their deficit to 54-43 with 3:18 left.
The Westports Malaysia Dragons, who were sporting a 4 game winning streak, went on a 8-0 run to put the Slingers away. Ooi Ban Sin made an open three-pointer and Scharer converted on a tough layup over Kyle Jeffers to help the Dragons balloon their lead to 73-53 with 5:40 left. Scharer iced the game with an sensational 360 layup late in the four quarter.
The two teams will play the second part of this home and away series on Sunday, August 17 at the OCBC Arena in Singapore. Tickets are available at Sports Hub Tix.
Box Scores:
Westports Malaysia Dragons 85 – Eversley 25, Knox 15, Scharer 12, Tautuaa 10, Loh 8, Ooi 5, Ng 3, Kuek 3, Tong 2, Kamaruddin 2, Yim 0, Wong 0.
JobStreet.com Singapore Slingers 59 – Wei Long 12, Jeffers 11, Desmond 10, Han Bin 10, Vergara 6, Delvin 4, Russel 3, Rodriguez 2, Qingde 1.
Quarter Scores: 18-21, 43-29, 63-49, 85-59
