Basketball: Singapore Slingers beat Malaysia Dragons 87-76 in Causeway Derby
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The Singapore Slingers during their Asean Basketball League match against CLS Knights Indonesia at the OCBC Arena on Feb 3, 2019.
ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG
SINGAPORE - The Singapore Slingers beat Causeway rivals Westports Malaysia Dragons 87-76 in the Asean Basketball League at the Stadium Maba in Kuala Lumpur on Friday (Feb 22) night.
Said Slingers coach Neo Beng Siang: "I'm happy with the win but I was disappointed with our defence. For our next game, we'll be working on our offence and making sure that everyone knows what we're doing."
The Slingers got off to a rocky start, trailing 14-9 in the first quarter before John Fields and Xavier Alexander stepped up the attack for the Slingers to lead 27-22 at the end of the opening period.
The Singapore side maintained their tempo to lead 39-34 at half-time.
Despite sloppy passing and the high volume of turnovers (18 for Slingers, 17 for Dragons) from both teams, the Slingers extended their lead in the third quarter to 64-58 with sharp shooting.
Fields led the way for the Singapore team in the last period, playing the entire quarter and contributing 12 of the Slingers' 23 points that period to seal the victory.
Alexander and Fields topped the scoring for the Slingers with 28 points each, followed by Jerran Young with 17 points.
Slingers remain third in the 10-team competition with a 11-7 record while Dragons remain eighth (6-11). Both teams will meet again on Sunday at the OCBC Arena for the second and final game of the Straits Cup.
While current holders Slingers are keen to retain the trophy, Neo said the focus will be on moving to second place in the league.
