Slingers Mauled by Wildcats in Thrilling Contest

Dennis Phua|dennisphua@gmail.com
the ridge Sports
A NUSSU Publication

In their first International NBL Hummer Championship game of 2008, the Singapore Slingers suffered an 87-124 beating by the Perth Wildcats at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Jan. 3, 2008.

The Wildcats practicing their shots

(Photo by Dennis Phua)

With the play-offs closing in, the Wildcats were looking for a win in their second trip to Singapore this season to improve their overall league standing. The Slingers, on the other hand, held an unenviable 4-19 record, and were eager to avoid a 20th defeat in front of their adoring home supporters.

The high-octane game started badly for the Slingers, which quickly fell behind against the sharp shooting of the visitors. As the deficit threatened to widen to twenty points, Macedonian power forward Blagoj Janev, hit a couple of three-pointers and a lay-up for the Slingers, keeping the first-quarter score-line respectable at 24-36.

American small forward Rod Grizzard, was however, limited to one point and uncharacteristic turnovers for the Slingers. Midway through the second quarter, he threw his headband to the floor in disgust before being briefly substituted.

As point guard Shane McDonald lost possession in mid-court, the Perth team blazed down to the other end to stretch their lead to 32-58 with 4:10 minutes left on the clock.

McDonald made amendments shortly after with three points; and a rejuvenated Grizzard nailed two long-range shots, pulling the Slingers back on fighting terms at 48-64 just before the halftime interval.

As the Wildcats returned to the court for the third quarter, they were in no mood to take their foot off the pedal. Rebounds were snatched, blocks were flying, and precision play was their order of the day. Aided by lacklustre defence by the Slingers, Perth’s forward Shawn Redhage dominated the scoring.

With four minutes remaining in the third period, Perth forward Alex Loughton, who finished the game tied with Redhage at 20 points, launched a block-and-pass towards his Australian team-mate Peter Crawford. The Singapore team thus fell an insurmountable 36 points behind.

Janev nets a free throw for the Slingers

(Photo by Dennis Phua)

With the Slingers chasing a lost cause, head coach Gordon McLeod gave Singaporeans Koh Meng Koon and Michael Wong their run-outs, much to the delight of the crowd.

With Wong notching some points and Grizzard stepping up his playmaking in terms of steals and assists, the Slingers hung on admirably and limited their opponents to 21 points in the final quarter.

The Perth Wildcats finished the game with seven players on double-figures and comfortably outscoring the Slingers in every quarter, having ripped the home defence apart with their big and mobile front line.

The remaining Slingers home schedule (2007/2008 season): Wollongong Hawks (13 January), Cairns Taipans (20 January), South Dragons (30 January), and Adelaide 36ers (13 February).

Get free tickets and support the Singapore Slingers!

The Singapore Slingers, the nation’s premier professional basketball team is giving NUS students a chance to come visit their home games for this season with the promotion of free tickets.

The Slingers are part of the NBL, The National Basketball League which is Australia’s top level professional basketball competition.

The Singapore Indoor Stadium is one of the stadiums for the games of the NBL and is the home stadium for the Slingers.

This season, the Slingers have been improving their performance, which a nail-biting victory against the Perth Wildcats last weekend at the Indoor Stadium.

The Slingers’ next home game is against the Adelaide 36ers at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on 11th November 2007 at 5 pm.

The SRC Development Centre will be handling the ticket giveaway for NUS students or else students can contact superfan@singaporeslingers.com or 81685714 to collect tickets at the stadium itself.

Usually around 500 tickets will be available for students per home game.

For more reports or highlights of previous matches visit www.singaporeslingers.com or join our Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5136144957.