10th January 2016: OCBC Arena Singapore
The Singapore Slingers fought off a terrible first half offensive performance and a determined and desperate opposition to register a 63-57 win in OT. The win pushes the Slingers record to 10-2 on the season and keeps the Slingers a top the 2015-16 ABL ladder. The win against the Kings also extends the Slingers winning streak to a club record 7th straight wins.
With Slingers Imports Xavier Alexander & Justin Howard struggling to find their offence game, it was local player Wu Qingde who stepped up for the Slingers in the 3rd quarter hitting five 3 point shots on the way to a team high 21 points. National Serviceman during the day, Qingde turned Slingers saviour during this game. With the Slingers struggling to get anything going offensively, it was Wu Qingde that stepped up big in the second half.
In a back and forth last quarter, each team took what looked like a winning position only to have the other team counter with a huge basket. The Pilipinas Kings took a 2 point lead with 1.8 seconds on a 3 point basket by Kings guard Elorde but when Slingers Filipino Import Kris Rosales got off a shot before the buzzer the game was sent to overtime.
The Slingers took control in OT, holding the Kings to just 2pts and escaping with a 6 point win.
Slingers Head Coach Neo Beng Siang said, “We had a tough week of training with several players down with flu like symptoms, we were worried we would come out slow and we did”.
“Our defense was the thing that kept us in the game in the first half, we only managed a season low 19 points for the half, but our defense held the Kings to just 24 points keeping us within striking distance,” said Neo.
Slingers Stats Leaders:
Wu Qingde: 21 points & 3 rebounds, Justin Howard: 17 points, 27 rebounds & 5 assists, Xavier Alexander: 10 points, 17 rebounds & 7 assists, Delvin Goh: 6 points & 5 rebounds
Kings Stats Leaders:
Arizona Reid: 24 points & 14 rebounds, Willie Miller: 9 points & 4 rebounds, Nakiea Miller: 8 points & 10 rebounds.
The Slingers have now set up a top of the table clash next Sunday 17th January at the OCBC Arena against the ABL defending Champion Hitech Bangkok City.
