Story by Koh Yizhe/Red Sports. Photos by Matthew Lau and Rebekah Abbott/Red Sports
Wong Wei Long (Slingers #5) goes for the lay up. He finished the game with a team-high of 23 points. (Photo 1 © Matthew Lau/Red Sports)
OCBC Arena, Sunday, August 3, 2014 — After back-to-back defeats by Malaysia Dragons and Bangkok City, the Singapore Slingers returned to winning ways with a narrow 77–74 win over the Saigon Heat in the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL).
Despite leading by as many as 16 points, the Slingers allowed their opponents back into the game and eventually surrendered the lead in the fourth quarter due to foul trouble. However, locals Delvin Goh and Ng Hanbin came through for the home team with two important free throws to put the game to bed in the dying moments.
Wong Wei Long scored a season-high 23 points, including four three-pointers from beyond the arc, while Kyle Jeffers was also huge for the Slingers as he recorded a double-double of 16 points and 14 rebounds. Rookie Larry Liew added 16 points as well.
Justin Williams had a double-double with 20 points and 24 rebounds while David Arnold scored 19 points for the Saigon Heat.
With the victory, the Slingers improve their win-loss record to 2-2 which is good enough for fourth in the table while Saigon Heat suffer their first defeat of the season and have a 3-1 win-loss record.
“My defence gave me confidence for my offence and today, that showed,” said Wei Long after the match.
“I’m definitely happy to have scored so many points but I’m not satisfied with my performance. I still need to work on assisting other players especially when they got the hot hand. It was really important for us to get the win especially after the disappointing defeat to Thailand and I’m glad we managed to get it,” added the 28-year-old.
Poor shooting in previous matches had plagued the Slingers, but there was no such issues early on as the Slingers eased to an early lead by making all of their first five shots. Wei Long and Larry had the hot hand, nailing back-to-back treys to spark a 12–4 run in the quarter.
The Slingers held a comfortable 26–13 lead after the first 10 minutes.
Much of the same followed in the next quarter as the Slingers maintained their double-digit lead. Careless turnovers allowed the Saigon Heat to cut the deficit at times but Larry nailed a couple of threes to ensure the Slingers’ lead.
Ng Han Bin ended the quarter on a high for the Slingers with a 3-pointer of his own as they led 46–35 at the break.
However, things started to change in the third quarter. Just two minutes into the period, Russel Low picked up his fourth personal foul, causing him to sit out the rest of the quarter and allowing the floodgates to open for the Heat.
David Arnold led the visitors on offence with 9 points in the quarter as the Saigon Heat went on an 18–7 run. It was not long before Arnold tied the game at 53–53 with a three-point play with four minutes 33 seconds left in the quarter.
The Slingers still held a slim 61–58 lead heading into the final quarter but that advantage disappeared quickly as the Heat took the lead at 66–65 with five minutes remaining. It was a back-and-forth affair from there as the lead traded hands before a three-pointer by Wei Long and a huge put-back dunk by Jeffers gave the Slingers a 75–72 lead with under two minutes remaining.
Jeffers and Russel would eventually foul out in the remaining time, but the Heat failed to make their free throws count. Although they lacked size in the paint, the Slingers were able to prevent their opponents from scoring. On the other hand, Delvin and Hanbin nailed the crucial charity shots to ice the game and give the Slingers their second win of the season.
The win was made even more impressive considering the Slingers’ other import, Hassan Adams, was out with a groin injury and played no part in the match.
“I told the boys that Hassan would be out for this game,” said Slingers head coach Neo Beng Siang.
“Today, we trusted each other. Our offence got going early and our defence was good even though we were undersized towards the end. When Kyle fouled out, it was a big killer, but Delvin and Russel really stepped up. Even our small forwards and guards did well too,” added Neo.
In their next match, the Slingers will travel to Indonesia to face Laskar Dreya South Sumatra on Wednesday, 8pm.
Scoring by quarter
Singapore Slingers vs Saigon Heat
1st Quarter: 26–13
2nd Quarter: 20–22 (46–35)
3rd Quarter: 15–23 (61–58)
4th Quarter: 16–16 (77–74)
Scoring by teams
Singapore Slingers: Wong – 23, Jeffers – 16, Liew – 16, Vergara – 10, Low – 5, Han Bin – 4, Oh – 2, Goh – 1
Saigon Heat: Williams – 20, Arnold – 19, Scott – 17, Baguion – 9, Avenido – 9.
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