Basketball: Vampire's sucker punch
Slingers lose from ahead again, as symptoms of poor offensive execution recur against Mono
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Slingers forward Xavier Alexander battling to retain possession during the ABL game against Mono Vampire at OCBC Arena yesterday. He took the final shot of the game and, while his two-pointer fell through the hoop, he did not get it off in time.
ST PHOTO: MARCELLIN LOPEZ
The same problems of wastefulness keep returning to haunt the Singapore Slingers yesterday, as they suffered their fifth loss in eight Asean Basketball League games this season.
The latest setback came against Thai visitors Mono Vampire, who departed the OCBC Arena with a 67-65 victory.
It was doubly frustrating for the Slingers as Xavier Alexander's last-ditch attempt to tie the scores went in, only for the umpire to disallow it as the shot had been taken after the buzzer.
Slingers coach Neo Beng Siang described it as a fair call but was critical of his men for letting slip a six-point lead in the final quarter.
He said: "Today's loss is ours to blame.
"We never set the tempo when we were up by six points. We've been facing the same problems, the execution of our offence is not there.
"It's sad, but we need to stay positive as a team."
The Slingers, last season's runners-up, have committed similar mistakes against Alab Pilipinas and Saigon Heat - leading into the final period, only to fall short.
Mono led 14-12 after the opening period and the low-scoring pattern continued in the next, even as the hosts edged 30-28 ahead.
Aided by a solid defensive performance from 2.14m centre Anthony McClain, who had a game-high 23 rebounds, the Slingers extended their advantage to 47-41 by the end of the third quarter.
But they then struggled with their shooting, converting just five of 21 shots in the final 10 minutes.
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Slingers top scorer Xavier Alexander laboured to make his 17 points, missing 12 of 16 shots.
Alexander had a team-high 17 points but missed three-quarters of his 16 attempts and committed four turnovers.
He said: "Mono played good enough defence to win. We just missed a lot of easy shots on offence.
"Our defence was there, we held one of the best offensive teams in the league to 67 points, so we can't hang our heads about that."
Teammate Marcus Elliot had 15 points, 12 rebounds and three assists, while local player Delvin Goh also had a double-double - 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Mono were paced by Mike Singletary's 24 points and got help from their bench, who scored 21 points. The Slingers' fringe players combined for just six points.
The loss snapped the Slingers' two-game winning run. They are seventh in the 10-team league and their next game is at home against the Heat on Jan 29.
Alexander said: "A break like that is always good. It gives us time to regroup, put our bodies in better shape and repair any injuries.
"It's a long season. We've got many games left. We started off slow, but we've seen the potential of our team and how good we can be. We've just got to continue to building on that going into this break."
