After an evenly fought first quarter where both teams struggled to take control it was the high-octane
Hong Kong Eastern team who couldn’t seem to miss a shot that broke open the second quarter racing
to a 16 point lead. But the Slingers would not go away on this night. They stiffened their defense in the
second half after giving up a 50 point first half and restricted Hong Kong to just 15 points in the third
quarter.
The Slingers took a brief lead before a somewhat fortunate bank shot saw the Hong Kong side take a 1
point lead into the final break. In a back and forth final quarter Hong Kong again pushed their lead back to
9 point but the Slingers kept their heads down pushing the Hong Kong Eastern team all the way to a
thrilling finsih. The game almost went to overtime but crucial misses from the charity stripe ended up
being the Slingers downfall on this night, dropping a heartbreaker 83-85.
Kentrell Barkley’s six steals were instrumental in the Slingers’ push to level the game. CJ Gettys’ pulled in
some key rebounds finishing with 10. Barkley recorded yet another 20+-point performance after
finishing with 26 while Gettys booked another double-double performance with his 22 points pairing up
with his 10 rebounds.
Locals Delvin Goh and Kelvin Lim also put up some decent numbers during the Slingers’ comeback with
Goh scoring eight, gathering five boards and dishing out four assists while Lim scored four crucial points
towards the final minutes of the game.
Xavier Alexander finished with 20 points, 3 rebs and 3 assists while grabbing a key steal in the Slingers
late charge in the final quarter.
The Slingers, despite the loss, remained in fourth spot with 5 wins and 4 losses,, and are still in the
running for the playoffs. Up next for the Slingers is another rubber match, this time, against the Macau
Black Bears on Monday night at 6pm. The Slingers, Macau & Zamboango are all locked in a battle for a
playoff spot.
