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Get high on the Singapore Sling(ers)! |
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Written by Darrel Chua
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Page 1 of 2
With the examinations
over and Christmas just around the corner, one can't help but taste
the holiday spirit in the air. After all, school's out and the most
wonderful season of the year is here! It doesn't get any better, does
it?
Well, yes it does. Singapore's
first and only professional basketball team - the Singapore
Slingers - took the festivities up a notch with a resounding 119 -
102 victory over the National Basketball League (NBL)'s defending champions
- the Brisbane Bullets. Now, that calls for some celebration!
To the uninitiated,
the Singapore Slingers is one of the 13 teams which play in Australia's
Hummer National Basketball League (NBL). Comprising teams from New Zealand
and Australia, the Slingers is the league's newest member and the
only team from Asia.
Currently in
their second season, the Slingers (one wonders why they are named after
a cocktail) prop the table and have come off a 0 - 6 losing streak
with a convincing win over the Bullets.
Watching from
our exclusive courtside seats, courtesy of Mr Singh, co-owner of the
Slingers, the team hardly looked like one which has not tasted victory
in their last 6 games.
#33
Ben Knight, captain of the Slingers, leading by example. He finished
with 21 points and 11 rebounds.
Spurred by
a vociferous 4000 strong home crowd, the home team surged to a commanding
34 - 21 lead on the back of a 14 - 3 run, in the last 4 minutes of the
first quarter.
Star shooter #23 Mike Helms
bags another 2 on his way to a game high 31 points.
The Slingers
never relinquished the lead although the Bullets did come close to snatching
the lead at the start of the fourth quarter. A couple of shots from
beyond the arc by Ere #25, Bruton #3 and a jumper by Williamson #4,
cut the lead to 4 points with 9:23 remaining on the clock.
The Singapore
team, however, was determined not to slip up. With Mike Helms #31, Grizzard
#1 and the Slingers' captain, Ben Knight #33, emerging as the lead
playmakers of the match, the combined score of 76 points from the trio
eventually led their team to the emphatic victory.
The Slingers'
confidence that they had bagged the game in the last few minutes of
the match was starkly evident with the introduction of 3 local players into the match. Michael Wong #11, Koh Meng Koon #10
and P.Mathialakan #15 were given the opportunity to pit their skills
against a much higher level of competition than they were used to. Expectedly,
the home crowd greeted this change in the on-court players enthusiastically,
with their rapturous applause.
It was more
of an exhibition match in the final minutes as a visibly despondent
Bullets team realized the insurmountable task in front of them. Again,
the crowd got onto their feet when Grizzard slammed home a monstrous
dunk off a fast break to leave everyone exhilarated and in awe.
#1 Grizzard bringing down
the house with a one-handed jam
The ecstatic
coach of the Slingers, Gordon Mcleod, pointed out that his team played
"4 quarters of great defense" and that it was sheer hard work and
determination that pulled off this upset.
It couldn't
have come at a better time too, as it was just the sort of morale-boosting
performance to see the team through the next few games away from home.
The spectators,
buoyed by the team's victory, were clearly in a celebratory mood as
well. Their incessant cheering, clapping and jeering made for a humorous
and entertaining experience of being part of such a boisterous crowd.
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