JobStreet.com Singapore Slingers VS Perth Wildcats in the 2012 Cable Beach Invitational Tournament
Broome, Western Australia – On the opening day of the 2012 Cable Beach Invitational Tournament, the Perth Wildcats, finalists in last year’s Australia National Basketball League (NBL), used their experience and size to claim victory over the JobStreet.com Singapore Slingers 62-54.
Slingers centre Kyle Jeffers led all scorers with 16 points, to add to his 7 rebounds and 4 steals while Ben Purser led the Wildcats with 12 points, followed by Gavin Field with 11 points.
Played on a purpose built outdoor court right next to the iconic Cable Beach in Broome, the Perth Wildcats showed why they were NBL Finalist in the 2011/12 as they led the Slingers 22-13 at the end of the first quarter. Not to be outdone, the JobStreet.com Singapore Slingers tightened up on defense and reduced the Wildcats lead to only 4 points by halftime, 34-30.
The Slingers combined for 11 steals and forced the Wildcats to 19 turnovers.
After the break, the Wildcats applied full court pressure that saw their lead grow to 13. The Wildcats capitalised on Slingers guest import Lester Strong’s first half foul trouble by going inside the paint and grabbing the offensive rebounds. At the end of the third quarter, the Slingers trailed the Wildcats 53-42.
The Wildcats size was also evident throughout the contest as they outrebounded the smaller Slingers line up 37-23.
Led by Lester Strong and Jai Reyes, the Jobstreet.com Singapore Slingers tried to close the gap as they took over on the offense in the final quarter. Unfortunately, time was not on the side of the Slingers. Strong and Reyes finished with 13 and 8 points, respectively.
The JobStreet.com Singapore Slingers will face the Shanghai Xiyang Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) tomorrow, September 27, at 2PM. The game will be shown live on ESPN.
Box Scores:
Perth Wildcats 62 – Purser 12, Field 11, Hire 6, Scott 6, Trueman 6, Redhage 6, Wagstaff 5, Tovey 4, Martin 4, Vigor 2
JobStreet.com Singapore Slingers 54 – Jeffers 16, Strong 13, Reyes 8, Sheng Yu 6, Desmond 4, Han Bin 3, Folkoff 2, Goh 2, Cabatu 0, Dulay 0, Wu 0
Quarter Scores: 22-13, 34-30, 53-42, 62-54
