31st October 2014, Singapore – The Jobstreet.com Singapore Slingers bow out of the 2014 AirAsia ASEAN Basketball League Finals after falling to Hi-Tech Bangkok City 76-73 on Friday night at the OCBC Arena, Singapore.
Bangkok City received a huge lift from Patrick Cabahug who finished with 26 points on 10-for-15 shooting. Chris Charles recorded a double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds, while Jerick Canada had 14 points and Steven Thomas added 12 points.
Similar to game 1, Hi-Tech got off to a quick start after making 9 of their first 11 attempts to build a 20-8 lead. Everything was falling for Hi-Tech’s sharpshooter Cabahug in the first period. Cabahug led his team with 12 points on 5-for-6 shooting in the period to help Hi-Tech grab a 30-16 lead after 10 minutes. As a team, Bangkok City shot 71% from the floor in the opening stanza.
After allowing Hit-Tech to score 30 points in the first quarter the Slingers defensive intensity picked up in the second quarter to restrict the Bangkok team to just 13 second quarter points. . Ng Han Bin drilled a jumper and Wong Wei Long converted a three-point play to spark a 16-5 run for the home team. Dior Lowborn finished off the run with 6 straight points to cut their deficit to 3 points, 35-32, with 4:27 left before halftime. Despite an 18 points half from Cabahug, the Slingers only trailed Hi-Tech by 3 points, 43-40, at the halftime break.
Hi-Tech pushed their lead to 10 points, 55-45, in the third quarter outscoring the Slingers 15-9. Hi-Tech hung on to a 58-49 lead heading into the final quarter.
With their season on the line, the home team managed to wipeout their 9 points deficit in the final quarter. Justin Howard and Dior Lowhorn took control of the game, scoring the Slingers’ first 13 points of the period to bring their team to within one point, 62-61, with 6:47 left. Then, Desmond Oh attacked the rim and finished his layup to tie the game at 67 with 3 minutes left.
Cabahug continued to come up big for his team by nailing a clutch turn-around jump shot which gave Hi-Tech a 71-68 cushion with 2 minutes left.
After Canada split his free-throw with 10 seconds, the Slingers had a chance to send the game into overtime. Unfortunately for the Slingers, Lowhorn was not able to save them this time after his three-pointer hit the front of the rim.
Lowhorn led the Slingers with 21 points, Justin Howard had another huge game for the Slingers finishing with 19 points and 18 rebounds. Al Vergara added 10 points.
For the Slingers they will rue their poor shooting from the free throw line going just 4-12 for the game while Hit-Tech went 14-26 from the foul line.
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | |
| Slingers | 16 | 24 | 9 | 24 |
| Hi-Tech | 30 | 13 | 15 | 18 |
JobStreet.com Singapore Slingers: Dior Lowhorn – 21, Justin Howard – 19, Al Vergara – 10, Ng Han Bin – 8, Wong Wei Long – 8, Larry Liew – 3, Russel Low – 2, Desmond Oh – 2.
Hi-Tech Bangkok City: Cabahug – 26, Charles – 18, Canada – 14, Thomas – 12, Dasom – 5, Lertmalaiporn – 1.
