The prospects of making it into the top two have dimmed for the Singapore Slingers after they suffered a tough 95-99 loss to the BTC CLS Knights Indonesia, Monday night at the OCBC Arena.
Singapore splits its season series against the Knights with the former taking the second and third matches and the latter winning the first and the final pairing.
The Slingers got monster numbers from Jerran Young and Xavier Alexander as the two powered a fourth-quarter rally that enabled Singapore to force an overtime period even if they were down for much of the game.
The Knights had a 74-64 lead entering the final period and were still up by six, 85-79, with only three minutes remaining in the game. However, the Slingers refused to go down without a fight as Alexander nailed a triple followed quickly by a layup to trim their deficit down to a single point.
With Douglas Herring taking charge for the Knights, Young stepped up in the end game as he scored on layup and two free throws to tie the count at 88-all. Herring missed a tough long shot leading to an extra period.
Young landed the first big blow in overtime but the Knights would take the lead for good after a triple from Maxie Esho with three minutes remaining to lea 95-94.
Although Singapore’s comeback in the fourth was impressive, they simply did not have enough gas left in the tank with John Fields fouling out of the game midway through the fourth. The big man only had nine points and five rebounds, leaving much of the heavy lifting for his fellow imports.
Young led their attack with 41 points and 10 rebounds while Alexander finished with 32 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists.
Singapore, once again, did a great job against former Slinger Wong Weil Long who failed to score in 29 minutes of action but they could not stop Herring who had 26 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists. Esho added 29 points, nine rebounds, and six steals for BTN CLS.
The Slingers remained at the third spot with their 13-9 win-loss tally but the Formosa strengthened their hold of the second spot at 17-6 after their victory against San Miguel Alab Pilipinas earlier in the day.
