Singapore 14 Feb 2016
The Singapore Slingers have slipped to second position on the ABL competition ladder with a disappointing 80-89 loss at home at the hands of the Malaysia Dragons. With the win the Dragons take over the top spot from the Slingers who had previously held the top spot for the past month.
In a game that had the #1 playoff seeding at stake the Slingers were unable to live up to expectations on the day.
The Slingers were outplayed and out hustled at every position, Dragons centre, Reginald Johnson had his way with the Slingers in the paint, finishing with 31pts & 17rebs and Dragons guards Matthew Wright (18pts) and Jason Brickman (21pts), dominated the Slingers guards who could not contain the two Filipino-American imports. The Dragons 4 import players accounted for 87 of their teams 89 points.
For the Slingers Justin Howard (25pts & 10rebs), Xavier Alexander (21pts & 7rebs), Kris Rosales (14pts). Slingers Local players Wu Qingde (7pts), Wong Wei Long (6pts) & Desmond Oh (5pts) all contributed to the scoring for the Slingers.
After the game, Slingers Head Coach Neo Beng Siang said ” We were beaten to every loose ball by the Dragons, in a game that, if we won, would have locked down the #1 seed for us going into the play-offs, we just didn’t have the commitment that the Dragons showed, they showed they wanted it more then we did today”.
Coach Neo added. ” We will be back at training on Tuesday working hard to correct the defensive lapses that cost us the game today, we still believe in this team and we also believe we have as good of a chance to win the championship as any of the other play-off bound teams this season”.
The Malaysia Dragons now control their own destiny when it comes to the #1 seed for the upcoming ABL play-offs. If the Dragons can win their final two games of the regular season vs Hitech in Bangkok on Wednesday night and then against the Pilipinas MX3 Kings in KL on Sunday they will finish the regular season on top of the ABL standings and have home court advantage throughout the play-offs.
For the Slingers they must beat the Mono Vampires in Bangkok on Friday afternoon and then back up two days later and defeat the Saigon Heat in Singapore on Sunday, the Slingers will then be hoping Hitech Bangkok City can defeat the Dragons in Bangkok on Wednesday night for a chance to regain the top spot on the ladder when the regular season ends next Sunday.
The Singapore Slingers will be in action at OCBC Arena next Sunday afternoon at 4:00pm vs the Saigon Heat in what will be the final regular season game before the play-offs.