The Singapore Slingers have always been proud of their defense. This is what head coach Neo Beng Siang preaches to his players and they have accepted that this is their identity. For three quarters, their defense held against San Miguel Alab Pilipinas but all fell apart for Singapore in the fourth as they lost their debut game 90-83, at the Santa Rosa Multi-Purpose Sports Complex, in Laguna.
The Slingers were still ahead by double-digits, 65-55, two minutes into the fourth quarter when their defense cracked. It all started with a slam dunk from behemoth Sam Deguara but it was the three-point shooting of Alab that turned the game to their favor. Khalif Wyatt made all his five three-point attempts in the fourth quarter to spearhead the home team’s attack.
Xavier Alexander and Marcus Elliott kept the Slingers in the ball game and they got a huge basket from Lim Jun Yuan to lead by one, 79-78, with only 1:26 remaining in the match. However, Wyatt responded with five straight points to give the lead to Alab for good.
Alexander led Singapore with 26 points and he got close to his signature triple-double with 10 rebounds and seven assists while adding three steals and two blocks. Anthony McClain chipped in 25 points and 12 rebounds while Delvin Goh also had his own double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Elliott chipped in 11 markers but it took him 21 attempts to get there. He, however, had a solid all-around game with 10 rebounds and eight assists.
It was clear that Leon Kwek still needed a bit more time to get himself back into game shape as he struggled with only three points on 1 of 4 shooting from the field.
Wyatt paced Alab with 28 points anchored on 7 of 9 shooting from the three-point range.
Next up for the Slingers is their season debut against the Macau Wolf Warriors.
