The Singapore Slingers are one win away from a return trip to the ABL Finals and they’ll have two opportunities get a win and the first one will be on the road against Hong Kong Eastern.
The Slingers flexed their defensive might in Game 1 as they slowed down the offense of the former ABL champions who were red-hot in their quarterfinal series against San Miguel Alab Pilipinas. Singapore limited their foes to less than 20 points in the second and fourth quarters as they cruised to a 101-70 victory at the OCBC Arena.
As the action shifts to the Southorn Stadium, the Slingers need to be wary of Hong Kong Eastern as they will be playing with a sense of desperation. They are a great shooting team at home so the defense of Singapore will have to stay at a high level.
One thing to celebrate for the Slingers in Game 1 was that they got key contributions from their locals. Led by Delvin Goh’s 16 points, alongside nine rebounds and six assists, the Singaporeans combined for 40 points to back up John Fields who had 29 points while Xavier Alexander and Jerran Young chipped in 16 each.
The key for Singapore was slowing down O’Darien Basset who only managed nine points on 3 of 15 shooting from the field. He averaged 28.5 points in their two games against Alab so topping him was on top of the list of priorities for head coach Neo Beng Siang.
Marcus Elliott and Michael Holyfield scored 19 points apiece for Hong Kong Eastern but Bassett’s struggles were too much to overcome, specially because he also was not effective in making plays for his teammates as he only had five assists in the game while averaging 11 in their last two, which included a 15-assist performance in Game 2.
Singapore has a date with destiny as their will be gunning to claim the first ABL Finals spot as they aim to return to the big dance after a one-year absence.
