Cable Beach, Broome – All’s well that ends well with the Singapore Slingers. After having their game cancelled with the tourney favorites Perth Wildcats Friday night, the Slingers won over the Indonesia National Team 68-44 in the first Cable Beach Invitational Tournament. Jamal Brown led all scorers with 16 points and added 7 rebounds. Rob Wainwright played well on both ends on the floor and ended up with 11 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 4 blocks. Guard Desmond Oh also scored in double figures with 10 points.
The inaugural Cable Beach Invitational Tournament, held in Broome, Western Australia, is the first outdoor beach Basketball tournament organized by RV Sport. Several teams from around the globe participated: the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association, the Perth Wildcats of the Australian NBL, the Singapore Slingers of the ASEAN Basketball League, and the Indonesia National Team.
The Slingers lead from start to finish, and used a 13-0 run to close out the opening quarter. Halfway through the first quarter, Lim Sheng Yu scored on a baseline jumper off an assist from Michael Wong that started the scoring run. Perth local Ben Smith added two more with a jumper of his own. Koh Meng Koon also contributed 2 three pointers as well to close out the run, he finished with 9 points. The opening salvo ended with the Slingers leading Indonesia 22-5.
Under the bright and hot sunny skies of Broome, Indonesia tried to make a comeback on the 2nd quarter by putting on pressure defense, limiting the Slingers to only 12 points. At halftime, Slingers lead Indonesia 34-20.
It was a toe to toe battle though during the third quarter with Indonesia trading baskets with the Singapore Slingers. The Slingers still lead Indonesia 49-34 at the end of the quarter.
Going into the final quarter, Indonesia tried to catch up but the Slingers controlled the boards on the defensive end and went into their fastbreak whenever they could. Singapore Slingers ended the game with a 15-1 scoring run that was just too much for Indonesia. The game ended 68-44, Singapore Slingers over Indonesia National Team.
Wong Wei Long dished out 7 assists for the Slingers. Forward Lim Sheng Yu scored 8 points and grabbed 8 rebounds as well.
Head Coach Neo Beng Siang mentioned that he was happy with the result. He added that “as a team, we are playing well but we still have much room for improvement. Our imports Jamal (Brown) and Ben (Smith) only trained with us for a couple of sessions. On the other hand, I am happy with Rob’s performance on both the offensive and defensive ends of the floor. A couple of our Singaporeans have developed on their defense individually, but we still need to work more on our team defense. I think that our bigs should have had more touches inside as well to even out our offense.”
Coach Neo also expects more from his Singaporeans and expects them to step up considering they played with reinforcements. He said that they will continue to work on their free throws as well, as the Slingers only converted 46% from the line. “Overall, it’s a good victory to boost our morale and gauge their skills and improvement in our preparation towards the SEA Games” added Coach Neo.
The Indonesian Basketball Team was lead by Rony Gunawan’s 14 points & 11 rebounds.
Michael Johnson, General Manager of the Singapore Slingers added: “The Singapore Slingers would like to extend its gratitude to RV Sport for organizing a world class basketball event in the inaugural Cable Beach Invitational Tournament; to Cable Beach Club Resort & Spa Management & Staff for their hospitality and generosity; to the Western Australia Government; and to the people and community of Broome for welcoming the entire Singapore Slingers team with open arms. From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you and look forward to seeing everyone again.”
The scores:
SINGAPORE SLINGERS 68 – Brown 16, Wainwright 11, Oh 10, MK Koh 9, Lim 8, Smith 8, WL Wong 3, Pathman 2, Khoo 1, M Wong 0, G Koh 0
INDONESIA NATIONAL TEAM 44 – Gunawan 14, Indrawan 6, Wuysang 5, Prawiro 5, Poedjakesuma 5, Situmorang 4, Sitepu 3, A. Chandra 2, Dewanto 0, Prihantono 0, R. Chandra 0, Dini 0
