Slinger fans come alive to see their team beat Beijing Aoshen

Story by Ian Chew. Pictures by Lai Jun Wei and Les Tan.

Slingers vs Beijing Aoshen

John Fitzgerald (Slingers, #11) goes up for the basket with Rick Maiden (Aoshen, #25). (Photo 1 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)

Singapore Indoor Stadium, Sunday, October 12, 2008 – The normally reticent Slingers crowd finally got into the act as they noisily cheered the home team to a closely fought 86-81 win over Beijing Aoshen Olympian, a team that was based in Singapore earlier this year.

New head coach Frank Arsego paid tribute to the Slingers die-hard fans in his maiden Slingers victory.

“The atmosphere was fantastic today! The fans really got behind us and gave our players a lift with their energy, especially in the fourth quarter.”

He was of course referring to the pivotal 12-0 run late in the fourth quarter by the Slingers that blew the game wide open.

Staring at a 73-75 deficit with just a few minutes to go, the Slingers suddenly exploded in life with Al Vergara (#1), John Fitzgerald (#11) and Darren Ng (#8) contributing crucial baskets during the 12-0 run. John, in particularly, sapped the Olympian’s spirit with two 3-point baskets from the corner and Darren put the icing on the cake with a flying fast break layup for an unassailable 84-75 lead.

Frustrated by his team’s inability to close the game, Aoshen head coach Paul Coughter stormed into the dugout immediately after the game without shaking hands.

Yet his team had done well to chip away at an early Slingers 28-19 first-quarter lead. Sam Harris (#30), Blagoj Janev (#21) and Darren had started the game brightly for the Slingers with an 8-0 lead.

If the Aoshen head coach was worried about his team’s early attacking blues, he certainly was not showing it. Instead, Aoshen’s Chinese guard Huo Nan (#10) displayed great agility, leading his team’s comeback with seven points. They were thwarted however by a last gasp 3-pointer by Slingers forward John, who was about to have a breakout game for his team.

Undeterred, the Olympians’ patient offence run by point guard Jamal Staten (#14) began to bear fruit in the second quarter. His skilful performance was at the heart of his team’s rally, in particular a spinning left-handed lay up that drew a foul. The Olympian fightback was capped by a 3-pointer at the buzzer by Huo Nan for a 40-46 deficit at the half.

The game truly burst into life in the third quarter when the Olympians took advantage of some static Slingers defending to snatch their first lead of the game with a 7-0 run. Point guard Jamal again was key with a lay up for a 47-46 lead.

The crowd, sensing a close tussle for the rest of the game, was not to be disappointed. Both teams traded baskets as Aoshen’s Huo Nan, Jamal and Jin Xin (#6) were spot on from beyond the arc. Keeping the Slingers close though was sharpshooting guard Darren and Blagoj. Darren’s long 3-pointer from near the halfway line was the highlight of his eight-point output in that quarter, which ended with the Olympians edging ahead 65-64.

That lead was kept until a sudden lapse in defensive intensity by the Olympians allowed the Slingers’ rampage late in the game. That coupled with an inability to penetrate the Slingers zonal defensive setup cost the proud Olympians dearly.

Frank though is in no doubt about the end point for the Slingers franchise.

“That happens when the fans are proud of the Singapore label and get behind us passionately for every game,” he explained.

“I might not even mind seeing some bottles fly!”

Slingers vs Beijing Aoshen