SINGAPORE - Asean Basketball League table-toppers the Singapore Slingers slumped to a shock loss on Sunday (Feb 5) at the hands of the visiting Hong Kong Eastern Long Lions.

The 71-73 result was all the more surprising given the hosts held a 20-point lead at the OCBC Arena midway through the third quarter.

Slingers centre Justin Howard scored 26 points and pulled down 22 rebounds but could not convert his final attempt in the dying seconds which would have tied the game and sent it into over-time.

Lions' guard Marcus Elliott led all scorers with 30 points.

This was the second regular-season defeat the Slingers have suffered against the Lions, who improve to 7-2 and are second in the standings. The Slingers remain top with a 9-3 record. They next face the Malaysia Dragons on Friday at the Maba Stadium in Kuala Lumpur.