Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – The JobStreet.com Singapore Slingers crashed to their 3rd consecutive loss with an 86-71 defeat against the Westports Malaysia Dragons at MABA Stadium in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Imports Tiras Wade and Brian Williams had 34 and 30 points, respectively, to carry the offensive load for the Dragons. Williams also had 15 rebounds and 3 steals. Louis Graham led the Slingers with 25 points and 9 rebounds. Donald Little added 19 points in limited minutes as he was hampered by foul trouble. Both Slingers imports fouled out of the game.
Filipino Imports Don Dulay and Vaughn Canta combined for 10 points on just 4 of 18 shooting. Guards Desmond Oh and Wong Wei Long, who was inserted into the starting line up, failed to score a field goal in the game.
The Slingers failed to control the tempo early on as the Dragons came out with an aggressive trapping defense that allowed them to go on a 12-0 run to start the game. Turnovers also didn’t help the cause of the Slingers as they committed 8 in the first quarter alone. At the end of the first quarter, Westports Malaysia Dragons took a commanding 21-7 lead over the JobStreet.com Singapore Slingers.
Trailing 47-34 at halftime, the 3rd quarter saw the best of the the visiting team, who were wearing their alternate yellow uniforms for the first time this season, as Donald Little found his offensive form to help cut the lead down to 8 points. Defensive lapses, however, allowed the Dragons to increase the lead to 20 points. The 3rd quarter ended with the Dragons leading the Slingers 68-48.
Without Little for the majority of the fourth quarter, the Slingers were no match inside the paint for the Dragons who cruised to a comfortable win. The Dragons were very much at home at MABA stadium, shooting 8 of 21 from beyond the arc, compared to the Slingers who only shot 2 of 10.
Slingers Head Coach Neo Being Siang was very disappointed with the performance of his team. “We shot the ball very poorly and played selfishly in the first half. Outside of Graham and Little, everybody else played poorly. Our individual and team defense was terrible and we all struggled with the pressure of playing on the road. We played scared out there today,” he said.
The JobStreet.com Singapore Slingers will now try to regroup before playing another game on the road on Saturday, this time against the struggling Indonesia Warriors at Mahaka Square in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Box Scores:
JobStreet.Com Singapore Slingers 71 – Graham 25, Little 19, Dulay 6, Khoo 6, Canta 6, Desmond 4, Sheng Yu 4, Pathman 1, Wei Long 0, Han Bin 0
Westports Malaysia Dragons 86 – Wade 34, Williams 30, Cabahug 7, Pacana 6, Belasco 3, Ng 3, Batumalai 2, Chee 1, Kwaan 0, Lau 0, Loh 0, Kuppusamy 0
Quarter Scores: 7-21, 34-47, 48-68, 71-86.
