Bangkok, Saturday, October 9, 2010 — The Thailand Slammers notched their second consecutive victory of the new ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) season with a 17-point, 76-59 victory over the visiting Brunei Barracudas.

The Slammers improve to a 2-0 win-loss record after winning their opening game against the KL Dragons last weekend at home. For the Barracudas, this is their second loss in a row and they fall to 0-2.

The Slammers were led by Chris Kuete’s 33 points and eight rebounds, pulling away in the 4th quarter to make it a blow out as the Barracudas paid the price for having 19 turnovers.

It was the Barracudas who jumped out to a better start, surging to an early 16–6 lead with back-to-back 3-pointers by Chester Tolomia. But it was the combination of Chris Kuete and Jason Dixon that made sure the Slammers only trailed by three (21-24) at the end of the 1st quarter, with Kuete recording nine 1st quarter points.

Dixon showed solid interior defense as the Slammers outscored the Barracudas 25-15 in the 2nd quarter. Kuete continued to fill up the stats sheet with 20 points and seven rebounds and the Slammers got out in front to take a 46–39 lead at the end of the 1st half.

After a fast-paced 1st half, both teams had difficulties finding the basket but Barracudas were able to erase the deficit behind Chris Common’s aggressive plays. However, when trailing by just two at 49-51, the Barracudas lost focus and gave away three possessions in the final minute of the 3rd quarter to allow the Slammers to end the quarter with a 56-49 lead.

The Barracudas continue their sloppy play by turning the ball over in the final quarter and showing no signs of a fighting spirit, allowing the Slammers to pull away and earn their second victory of the season.

Besides Chris Kuete, Piyapong Piroon recorded 13 points for the Slammers while Dixon had a poor offensive night, scoring just five points on 2-of-14 shooting. However, Dixon made up for that with eight rebounds and two blocks.

Chris Commons recorded a double-double for the Barracudas with 16 points and 11 rebounds, but fellow Chris Garnett had a sub-par game with 14 points but nine turnovers.

The Slammers will now take to the road and travel to Jakarta to take on Satria Muda in their next game on Saturday, October 16th. The Barracudas now go back to Brunei for their first home game of the season against the unbeaten Philippine Patriots.