Broome, Western Australia – The Zhejiang Guangsha Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) capitalized on their massive height advantage over the ASEAN Basketball League’s (ABL) JobStreet.com Singapore Slingers to claim a win in a tight contest on Day 3 of the 2012 Cable Beach Invitaional Tournament 66-59.
The Slingers clicked offensively early in the game and led at the end of the 1st quarter, 17-14. The Lions unleashed a barrage of three pointers in the 2nd quarter with Jin Li Peng leading the way. At the halftime break, the Lions were up 29-25.
Guard Zhang Han Jun created havoc on the Slingers zone defense in the 2nd half as he continually penetrated the lanes and dished out passes to Lions’ big men Ramos and Wang Zheng. Despite trailing by 11 points at the start of the fourth quarter, the JobStreet.com Singapore Slingers made a comeback through some strong defensive work which included periods where both Slingers only two big men Kyle Jeffers & Lester Strong were sidelined with minor injuries. The Slingers reduced the Lions’ lead to 2 points, 57-55, with 2:14 seconds to go, but the Slingers were just too tired in the final minutes to pull out the win.
Lions Import Jon Peter Ramos led the Lions with 16 points and 11 rebounds. 3-point specialist Jin Li Peng added 14 points while shooting 3 of 9 from the arc.
Kyle Jeffers of the JobStreet.com Singapore Slingers posted a double-double, scoring a game-high 22 points and grabbing 15 rebounds. Lester Strong and Jun Cabatu added 10 points a piece in a losing cause for the Slingers.
Even though the Slingers failed to win any of their 3 games in the tournament, they were the most talked about team on the final day. All three opposing team coaches were surprised by the competitiveness and performance of an undersized and undermanned Slingers squad.
Overall, the Slingers coaching staff have been happy with the way the team has fought out the matches in their second appearance at the Cable Beach Invitational Tournament. Still in the middle of their ABL off-season, the JobStreet.com Singapore Slingers were only able to have 3 training sessions together prior to the Broome tournament.
“The way we played and held leads against quality opponents who are about to start their seasons, we believe we have shown how competitive we are in just about any company,” said Coach Neo Being Siang, Head Coach of the JobStreet.com Singapore Slingers.
Box Scores:
Zhejiang Guangsha Lions 66 – Ramos 16, Jin 14, Zhang W 9, Zhang H J 8, Wang 6, Zhang Y P 4, Su 3, He 3, Sun 3, Zhao 0, Teng 0, Zheng 0
JobStreet.com Singapore Slingers 59 – Jeffers 22, Cabatu 10, Strong 10, Reyes 9, Dulay 2, Sheng Yu 2, Folkoff 2, Desmond 2, Han Bin 0, Goh 0, Qingde 0
Quarter Scores: 14-17, 29-25, 49-38, 66-59
