The Indonesia Warriors put an end to the JobStreet.com Singapore Slingers’ playoff hopes tonight after a 63-53 victory at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, Singapore.
Chris Daniels led the way with 15 points and 21 rebounds. Stanley Pringle, Jerick Cañada and Steven Thomas contributed 12 points each for the Warriors who outrebounded the Slingers 50-25.
The Slingers took charge early in the game. A dunk from Rashaad Singleton and a Wong Wei Long three-pointer resulted in a 13-6 Slingers lead with 3:49 left in the first period. Trying to enter the playoffs on a winning note, the Warriors ended the first quarter on a 9-2 run capped with a layup from Canada at the buzzer.
Down by 8 points with 45 seconds left before the half, Slingers star Rashad Jones-Jennings pulled his hamstring and had to be helped off the court. Jennings tried to give it a go in the second half but only lasted for two minutes before he headed back to the bench.
“As a competitor, it’s tough to see Rashad (Jennings) go down. I don’t want to see that. I know he tried to give it a go in the second half. Obviously that made it more difficult for Singapore. But it was a great effort from them and I have a great appreciation for the Slingers organization,” said Warriors’ Head Coach Todd Purves after the game.
Pringle put the Warriors ahead 37-26 with 7:52 left in the third period but Indonesia were still having problems with the Slingers. Phillip Morrison’s shot with 5 minutes left in the period shaved the Warriors’ lead back to three points. But that was as close as the Slingers got for the rest of the game.
Daniels found John Smith who made a great cut for a layup to put the Slingers away for good. Smith’s layup with 2:58 left gave the Warriors a 51-39 lead and helped the Warriors to finish their regular season with a record of 16-6.
With the 2013 playoffs coming up, Coach Todd is very happy with his team although he acknowledges that there are still areas for improvement. “We still made some mistakes that we have to clean up a little over a week before the playoffs,” said Coach Todd. “I’m very happy with my team’s form. From a mental perspective, we are doing the things that we are supposed to do, committing to rebounding and defense.”
Singleton finished with 23 points and Morrison had 17 points for the Slingers. With the Slingers’ exit, the Sports Rev Thailand Slammers are the final team to enter the ABL Playoffs and will face the San Miguel Beermen in the semi-finals.
