Slingers 62-65 Tigers

The Singapore Slingers slumped to their third defeat of the season as the Thailand Tigers outshot the hosts to go home with the win.

Michael LeBlanc led the Slingers with 23 points and ten rebounds but was the only Singapore player in double figures as the home team shot an abysmal 35% at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Singapore's other import, Kyle Jeffers could not get going offensively but did contribute 16 rebounds in the losing effort.

Ratdech Kruatiwa came off the bench to lead all scorers for the Tigers with 15 points and added a game-high five steals. Lertmalaiporn chipped in 13 points with Chaz Briggs adding another 12.

A free-flowing affair awaited Slinger Nation as Singapore and Thailand opted for end-to-end action in the first quarter. Basket-to-basket action was the theme of the night as both teams opted for the running game, along with full-court pressure defences most of the quarter.

The Slingers and the Tigers exchanged baskets the entire period but Singapore pulled away near the end with a lay-in from Pathman Matialakan and a pair of free-throws from Al Vergara.

LeBlanc led Slingers with nine points in the first period as Singapore raced to a 22-16 lead.

However, the Slingers' offence stalled in the second quarter as they just could not buy a basket in a five-minute drought. The running game that gave them the edge in the first turned against the home side, as missed baskets turned into points for the Tigers in a matter of seconds, with Coach Davisson of the Tigers urging his team to "push the ball" at every opportunity.

Davisson inserted Lertmalaiporn back into the line-up midway into the second, and the swingman responded with instant offence, scoring seven points in less than three minutes as the Tigers went on an 18-2 run to go into the half leading 38-29.

The Slingers continued to struggle in the early parts of the third quarter as the Tigers went on a 7-2 run to increase the lead to 45-31 with six minutes to go.

Singapore coach Frank Arsego tried to get his team out of the rut, running a three-guard offence of Al Vergara, Michael Wong and Desmond Oh in a bid to shoot their way out of trouble.

It failed.

The Slingers coach was forced to insert Steven Khoo and then Marcus Ng as the Tigers simply shot over the shorter Singapore defence, and came away with crucial offensive rebounds to stop the break on the other end.

Kruatiwa continued to sink timely and important baskets for the Tigers, making two threes in the third to lead Thailand with 14 after three quarters.

With thirty minutes gone, the Tigers maintained their nine-point lead with the score 48-39, advantage Thailand.

Whatever Arsego said in between the third and fourth quarter must have worked as the Slingers roared back in the final period.

Thailand had gone on an 8-0 run in the first three minutes of the quarter when Singapore went on its own 15-4 offensive barrage to close the gap to 54-60. Desmond Oh was instrumental on the defensive end, as his excellent man-to-man defence on Axel Doruelo was impeccable.

It was on the offensive end that Oh struggled, and despite helping his team to 57-63 late in the fourth, it was his refusal to pass on the break twice that prevented the Slingers from closing the gap below three points.

The score was 62-65 with 1:10 left in the game when the Slingers started fouling to stop the clock. During this time, Michael LeBlanc should have had three free-throws after getting hacked while taking a trey that would have given the Slingers the chance to tie the game, but the referee waved off the forward's pleas.

The Tigers surprisingly hit a drought in the final moments of the game, missing eight consecutive free-throws, but held off the Slingers and a last-gasp three-point attempt from Marcus Ng to steal the game 65-62.