Another perfect record bits the dust on the second day of the 2023 ABL Invitational circuit in Batam, Indonesia. It was the Singapore Slingers who handed the Saigon Heat their first loss of the season
In a game that went down to the wire, the Singapore Slingers grabbed their first lead of the final quarter with just 12 seconds to play on a Xavier Alexander putback to clinch an 84-83 win over the Saigon Heat.
With the victory, the Slingers snap a two-game losing streak. It was also a significant win as it handed the Saigon Heat their first loss
of the competition.
The Heat’s opened the game on a10-0 run but the Slingers responded with a 7-0 run of their own.
In a back & forth first half both teams traded leads with the Slingers taking a 3 point advantage into the half time break 46-43.
Saigon would come out firing in the 3rd quarter and midway through the third quarter the Heat exploded for an 11-0 run taking a double-digits lead. The Vietnamese squad seemed to be in control, holding onto a 9-point lead with just 6 minutes left in the game.
However the Slingers had one final run left, Jackson Mah came off the bench scoring 6 points in the Slingers game-winning run, the Slingers outscored the Heat 13-3 in the
final 5 minutes to take the win 84-83 .
In a defensive tassle late in the 4th the go-ahead bucket by Alexander was the only points scored in the last 2 and a half minutes but it was enough for the Slingers to grab a much needed win.
Kentrell Barkley finished with 23 points, 15 rebounds, and 4 assists, while Xavier
Alexander compiled an all-around performance of 10 points, 13 boards, and 6 dimes. However, on this night it was the Slingers bench the spotlight shined on with the Slingers bench outscoring the Heats bench 28-0. “Jackson” Jun Hao Ma finished with 13 points and 4 rebounds, Kelvin Lim added much needed energy finishing with 10 points off the bench and Zach Helzer who arrived just prior to tipoff added his usual energy and some key points off the bench.
The Heat relied on heavy minutes and production from their starters with 4 of the 5 players in their starting unit logging at least 35 minutes. Tim Waale did his part with 8 points on 3-3 field-goal shooting in his starting spot for the first time in coach Matt Van Pelt’s rotation.
Jarius Holder (24), Jeremy Combs (22 points), and Player of the Tournament from the Singapore circuit Evan Gilyard (20) all got their points and the team shot very well from long range (55percent three-point shooting) but the Heat were unable to keep the Slingers off the offensive glass.
The Slingers dominated the offensive rebounds finishing with 27 and that kept them in the game.
Next up for the Singapore Slingers is a match up with the Macau Black Bears on Sunday at 2pm. Macau took down the only other undefeated team Hong Kong Eastern on day one in Batam so this promises to be a battle.
