It’s been almost three years since the OCBC Arena have seen the Singapore Slingers in action and their
return to the 2023 ASEAN Basketball League Invitational didn’t disappoint. The Slingers had to work hard
to notch its first win of the year against a tough NS Matrix side who also impressed in their debut in the
ABL Invitational’s first night.
A game-deciding block sent the Slingers faithful jumping up and down inside the OCBC Arena as Worlds
Import CJ Gettys swatted away NS Matrix’s Tevin Glass’ game-tying attempt leaving the NS Matrix fans
in disbelief while the Slingers nation fans roared their approval.
The Slingers had to shake off the rust of the pandemic as they had to chase a seven-point deficit at the
half, but all things were looking good for the home side come the second half. They also had to
overcome the mountain that is Xavier Alexander’s limited minutes due to three quick fouls in the game,
but it was one of the Slingers new imports that stepped up to carry the load.
Coming into his first stint with the Slingers, Worlds Import Kentrell Barkley announced his arrival in the
ABL with a top-notch performance finishing with 37 points, seven rebounds, six assists, and five steals
which made him the first player in their franchise history to have recorded these numbers in an ABL
game.
It wasn’t only the World Import who put on a show but also the local players helped out in the Slingers
run to win its first competition match since the pandemic put a pause on everyone’s lives. Slingers
veteran Delvin Goh put up a familiar performance scoring 10 points, four rebounds, and three assists
while 18 year old local rookie Zachary Jian-Kai Helzer finished with an impressive performance in his first
pro game, finishing with seven points and two assists. Helzer made two key plays down the stretch
including a 3 pointer with the shot clock running down and a driving floater that would put the Slingers
up for good.
The Singapore Slingers will now go into a rest day before getting back in action on Wednesday 4 th
January to hopefully continue their winning ways as they will face the Cooly Bangkok Tigers at OCBC
Arena at 8:00pm.
