ABL: Singapore Slingers see off Brunei Barracudas in scrappy win

Story by Ethan Lou, Koh Yizhe/Red Sports. Photos by Vanessa Lim/Red Sports

Singapore Indoor Stadium, Tuesday, November 22, 2010 — Despite a disappointing start, the Singapore Slingers eventually defeated the Brunei Barracudas 74-70 in the ASEAN Basketball League to improve to a 5-4 win-loss record and third place on the table.

“We had a rough game tonight, but we were able to stick together and came up with a win. The first quarter we came on a little flat and a little slow, but throughout the game, we were able to pick it up a little bit. It just happens like that sometimes in basketball, sometimes you come out and you are on fire and you are making every side and sometimes you come on a little flat and today we were a little flat,” said Marcus Skinner who top scored for the Slingers with 29 points.

The Slingers trailed the Barracudas for the entire first quarter. By the third minute, the Barracudas had an eight-point lead over the Slingers. The Singapore players were constantly outfought and Slinger Kyle Jeffers picked up two fouls.

“I got two early fouls, just like the last time I played against them, so I sat out for the rest of the quarter. So I was kind of a bit off my game. It took a me a lot to get back into it and the first quarter kind of got into my head mentally,” said Jeffers.

Chester Tolomia was on fire for the Barracudas with four 3-pointers and by the end of the first quarter, the Slingers were trailing by four at 21-25.

The Slingers fared slightly better in the second quarter. Despite some sluggish play, the Slingers managed to get level in the fourth minute with a field goal by Leo Avenido that put the score at 31-31. In the sixth minute, a combination of Al Vegara and Skinner put in a field goal following a particularly impressive Avenido interception gave the Slingers a five point lead at 42-37. However, the Slingers soon lost their lead and the second quarter ended again with the Slingers trailing at 44-45.

The third quarter saw both teams wrestling for dominance and the scoreline was fairly level. Desmond Oh played good defense against the dangerous Tolomia, keeping him from scoring more points. The Slingers attained a momentary four-point lead at 57-53 and again at 64-60, but the Barracudas took back the lead in the last minute with a field goal and then a Tolomia 3-pointer to end the quarter leading by 65-64.

“As usual, I locked him (Tolomia) down and I didn’t give him a chance to shoot. I think we did very badly in the third quarter and they got points from inside the paint. We didn’t do a good defense on them and we wanted to step it up in the fourth,” said Desmond.

The last quarter was intense and fast paced, but the score progressed little. A combination of Skinner and Avenido brought the score to 70-69 in favor of the Slingers in the second minute. Despite the subsequent testosterone charged game play, the score stagnated at 70-69 for what seemed like an eternity before being broken in the sixth minute by the Barracudas to tie it up 70-70. However, the Slingers had completely worn the Barracudas out by that time and wrapped up the game at 74-70.

“It is a win but it is a really ugly win. We are very sloppy throughout the whole 40 minutes and I am very disappointed with the team’s performance, especially in terms of the defensive end. In the fourth quarter, I told them that if they wanted to win, they needed to box out and prevent our opponents from getting the offensive rebounds. We were outrebounded throughout the game. Without rebounds, we can’t run and we are a running team,” said Neo Beng Siang, head coach of the Slingers.

Jeffers echoed his sentiments, saying: “The game plan was to run, defense rebound and to just basically control the tempo and we didn’t do any of that. They beat us on the rebounds probably by double digits. They were pretty much in control of the tempo. We weren’t able to run the ball that well, because we couldn’t secure the ball, so I mean, we really didn’t execute what we wanted to do.

“I don’t know what was wrong with all of us, but we still stuck together as a team, we played as a team, as one unit and sometimes that’s what has to happen. You know, you just have to come together and give it your all and hope that everybody continues to pull through, just like when the time comes to it and just get to where everybody needs to be.

“So our game plan was something that we struggled with tonight and I think we would be getting our asses busted. We would be working really hard in practice in the next week to prepare for Thailand [Slammers] because they are going to be extremely tough in Thailand so we are going to have to be able to give it our all. Give it a hundred percent, a hundred and eleven percent effort when we go up there next week.”

Jeffers also added his thoughts on the disappointing first quarter, saying: “The first quarter to me, you just got to stick with it, just got to play through it, you know, keep on playing and hope to get the rhythm back, so it’s not that I can blame anybody but myself. It was just some dumb fouls I had, so I was just lucky that I did not pick up a quick third one. I had four in the game. It’s good that I did not pick up a third one early and I can just try to get back in it and stay on the court. Just stay on the court for 30-40 minutes and stay with it the whole game; just stay with my rhythm there and find something early. This game I didn’t have the opportunity. It’s good to win though.”

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