After losing back-to-back Asean Basketball League (ABL) Finals, the Singapore Slingers are hoping a pair of potential signings will provide that winning edge. Filipino guard Mikee Reyes and Canadian Ryan Wright (206-C/F-87, college: Oklahoma) have been added to the Slingers' 12-man squad for this month's Merlion Cup, which head coach Neo Beng Siang will use as an audition for the duo. Besides the hosts, the Sept 20-24 invitational tournament at the OCBC Arena features the Shanghai Sharks (China), Adelaide 36ers (Australia), Satria Muda Pertamina (Indonesia), Yulon Luxgen Dinos (Chinese Taipei), Jeonju KCC Egis (South Korea) and NLEX-SCTEX (Philippines). Reyes, 26, averaged 12.1 points and 2.1 assists in his final year at the University of Philippines in 2014 and has played in several semi-professional leagues back home. But it is fellow triallist Wright that Neo is pinning his hopes on. Neo said of the 2.06m centre: "He's quick and athletic, so hopefully this can help our team which plays the running game." With last season's starting centre Justin Howard, 36, out of contract, Neo sees the 30-year-old Wright as an ideal replacement. Wright played in the 2006 National Collegiate Athletic Association finals for the University of California, Los Angeles - albeit in a limited role - and was a starter for Hungarian top division club Szolnoki Olajbanyasz. Neo said: "Our players will feel more confident to have a rim protector." Both Reyes and Wright will arrive in the coming days. Slingers captain Desmond Oh is looking forward to integrating them into the team. He said: "We always do our best to help the imports out, both on and off the court." Added forward Leon Kwek: "After seven seasons, we and Saigon Heat are the only teams that have not won a championship yet. "Hopefully Ryan is going to come in, play at a high level and deliver our first championship." Courtesy of: straitstimes.com
CLS Knights celebrate ASEAN League title - 1 month ago
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Singapore S. - CLS Knights 81-84
CLS Knights earned ASEAN League title. They upset Singapore Slingers in the decisive fifth game of the championship series to celebrate the trophy. The guests trailed by 7 points after three quarters before their 26-16 charge, which allowed them to win the game. Strangely Singapore Slingers outrebounded CLS Knights 45-31 including a 18-5 advantage in offensive rebounds. American-Nigerian power forward Maxie Esho (206-F/C-91, college: Massachusetts, agen... [read more]
Singapore S. - CLS Knights 81-84
CLS Knights earned ASEAN League title. They upset Singapore Slingers in the decisive fifth game of the championship series to celebrate the trophy. The guests trailed by 7 points after three quarters before their 26-16 charge, which allowed them to win the game. Strangely Singapore Slingers outrebounded CLS Knights 45-31 including a 18-5 advantage in offensive rebounds. American-Nigerian power forward Maxie Esho (206-F/C-91, college: Massachusetts, agency: Two Points) stepped up and scored 25 points and 8 rebounds for the winners and American guard Douglas Herring Jr. (191-G-87, college: Utica) chipped in 18 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists. American guard Xavier Alexander (198-G-88, college: S.Nazarene) responded with a triple-double by scoring 23 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists and the other American import guard Jerran Young (198-G-91, college: Wright St.) scored 20 points and 9 rebounds. Both teams had four players each who scored in double figures. Top scorers: Singapore S.: X.Alexander 23+12reb+10ast, J.Young 20+9reb+3ast, K.Chiang Goh 19+11reb, J.Fields 13+11reb+2ast, L.Hua Liew 3+1reb+1ast, H.Hanbin 3 CLS Knights: M.Esho 25+8reb+1ast, D.Herring Jr. 18+6reb+7ast, D.Watkins 17+11reb, B.Jawato 16+3reb+2ast, L.Wong-Wei 6+1reb, F.Nugroho 2
Singapore Slingers maintain composure to beat CLS Knights Indonesia 63-60 in ABL Finals Game 3 - 1 month ago
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Not even harassment by stalkers after their morning training session could throw the Singapore Slingers off as they kept their focus and defeated CLS Knights Indonesia on Wednesday (May 8). The steely 63-60 win in Game 3 of the Asean Basketball League (ABL) Finals meant the Slingers have taken a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series. In front of a partisan 3,000-strong capacity crowd armed with airhorns, drums and pot covers at the GOR CLS Kertajaya, both teams played good defence to restri... [read more]
Not even harassment by stalkers after their morning training session could throw the Singapore Slingers off as they kept their focus and defeated CLS Knights Indonesia on Wednesday (May 8). The steely 63-60 win in Game 3 of the Asean Basketball League (ABL) Finals meant the Slingers have taken a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series. In front of a partisan 3,000-strong capacity crowd armed with airhorns, drums and pot covers at the GOR CLS Kertajaya, both teams played good defence to restrict each other's scoring. Only one point separated the teams at the end of each of the first three quarters. Slingers coach Neo Beng Siang said: "Defensively, we were locked in and we played as a team to hold them to another low score after Game 2 (which Slingers won 77-57 at the OCBC Arena). "It is always going to be tough playing here and even though some unpleasant things happened, we told the players to focus and play like there is no tomorrow. "I'm proud of the players. We talked about winning at least one game here and they showed how hungry they were to win. Players like (Ng) Han Bin don't usually get that many rebounds but he had six tonight with three big ones at the offensive end." Earlier in the day, the Slingers' team bus was tailed and rocked by a group of more than 10 men after their practice session at the match venue. No one was hurt but the league and Knights management added extra security personnel to ensure safety and order. While the Slingers did not seem affected by the incident, shooters Sandy Kurniawan (190-SG-86) and former Slinger Wong Wei Long (186-G-88) combined for three triples in the opening quarter as the Knights tried to pull away in the opening period. But the Slingers reeled in a 17-11 deficit to make it 17-16. It was more of the same in reverse as the visitors started the second quarter with 9-0 run, only for the hosts to erase that with eight straight points as the Slingers entered half-time with a 28-27 lead. The Knights continued to pile on the treys in the third quarter, but the Slingers showed great character to stay in the game. Instead, the Knights seemed to be the ones overawed by the pressure as they converted only six of 13 free-throw attempts, compared to the Slingers' nine-from-11, which ultimately proved costly in a close contest. Jerran Young (198-G-91, college: Wright St.)'s three-pointer midway through the last period gave the Slingers a five-point lead which proved decisive. Fields, the subject of plenty of online and verbal abuse, was the top Slingers scorer alongside Young. Both had 16 points. Fields said: "This was a good win that showed the mettle of the team. "The atmosphere didn't intimidate us. (Ng) Han Bin knocked down treys, while Xavier (Alexander) and Jerran (Young) closed the game for us. "We got to keep it cool and we are not going to think about the title. We want to recuperate, hydrate, and return for Game 4 again with a backs-to-the-wall mentality." The Slingers can lift their first ABL title with a win here in Game 4 on Saturday (May 11). If the series go to Game 5, the decider will be played in Singapore on May 15. Neo added: "We have to mentally and physically strong. We wanted at least one win here, but now that we got one, it is not enough, we want to finish off the series here in Game 4." Courtesy of: straitstimes.com
Singapore Slingers bounce back to rout CLS Knights 77-57 and level ABL Finals series at 1-1 - 1 month ago
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After surrendering so meekly in Friday's chastening 86-67 Game 1 defeat by CLS Knights Indonesia in the Asean Basketball League (ABL) Finals, the Singapore Slingers returned to the OCBC Arena on Sunday (May 5) as different beasts. Neo Beng Siang's men were hungrier, faster and sharper as they routed the visitors 77-57 in Game 2 to get their best-of-five Finals series back on track. Even without starting American point guard Jerran Young, the Slingers played great defence and made their sh... [read more]
After surrendering so meekly in Friday's chastening 86-67 Game 1 defeat by CLS Knights Indonesia in the Asean Basketball League (ABL) Finals, the Singapore Slingers returned to the OCBC Arena on Sunday (May 5) as different beasts. Neo Beng Siang's men were hungrier, faster and sharper as they routed the visitors 77-57 in Game 2 to get their best-of-five Finals series back on track. Even without starting American point guard Jerran Young, the Slingers played great defence and made their shots count to get off to a 21-9 lead in the first quarter. The Slingers were paced by ABL World Import MVP Xavier Alexander (198-G-88, college: S.Nazarene)'s 16 points and Defensive Player of the Year John Fields (205-F/C-88, college: Tennessee)'s 15 points while Young also sufficiently recovered from a hamstring niggle to claim 14 points. The Singaporean players, led by Ng Han Bin (14 points) and Oh Desmond (178-PG-86) (nine), also stepped up big time to combine for 32 points with some hot shooting from range. But the key to the convincing win was solid defence as they restricted Knights' dangermen Darryl Watkins (211-C-84, college: Syracuse) and Maxie Esho (206-F/C-91, college: Massachusetts, agency: Two Points) to a combined 20 points. The Slingers then ended the game with an all-local quintet for the last 48 seconds. The Knights still have home-court advantage as they will host Games 3 and 4 in Surabaya on Wednesday and Saturday, but the Slingers will look to build on this winning momentum. Courtesy of: straitstimes.com
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