NBL LEADERS BRISBANE NEXT – WEDNESDAY, February 7th -
SINGAPORE INDOOR STADIUM
The Singapore Slingers have created history to reach the Philips Championship playoffs in their first season by defeating Adelaide at home on Wednesday 105-100, Wollongong on the road last night 96-93, and tonight the South Dragons in
Melbourne 114-100, to solidify their position in the top 8 with two regular season games to go. Making the task even more remarkable is the fact the Slingers pulled off the three wins without the services of second leading scorer and key import Marquin Chandler, 19.1 points per game, who injured his knee in the opening game of the series and did not travel with the team on the road. Aaron Trahair has been the ‘Man of the Moment’ to score 27 points against Adelaide, 19 against Wollongong including the game winning shot, and 28 points against the Dragons to celebrate his 31st birthday in style. One of the most traveled teams in world sport today, the Singapore Slingers showed no signs of fatigue as they gained in strength over the four days to totally dominate the South Dragons tonight in
Melbourne. Trahair led all scorers but he was well supported by Ben Melmeth, Ben Knight and Mike Helms who all collected 19 points each. Larry Davidson added 12 points while Brad Davidson controlled the flow of play with 12 assists. Leading 59-58 at the half time break, there were six lead changes in the early part of the third stanza, until the Slingers surged to a 92-78 advantage at the last change and denied the Dragons from staging any sort of comeback in the fourth quarter. The Slingers showed few ill-effects from their gutsy victory over
Wollongong the night before and played some outstanding second-half defence to suffocate the Dragons and pick up the victory.
Singapore host the League leading Brisbane Bullets in their last regular season home game on Wednesday, February 7th at the
Singapore Indoor Stadium. The Bullets have defeated the Slingers in both previous encounters but with the confidence
Singapore are showing at the moment the Indoor Stadium will be rocking on Wednesday night. Game time is 8pm. Slingers coach Gordon McLeod was delighted to be in the final, particularly after a tough final month of the season and with the injury to import Marquin Chandler. “We’re so pleased about what we’ve been able to achieve. We’ve had to come a long way in a very short time,” McLeod said. The Singapore Slingers had a horrendous schedule in January with ten games, five at home and five on the road, averaging a game every three days. “The association and expertise of the Singapore Sports Council High Performance Team has certainly made a difference to our travel schedule and coupled with the commitment of the players it has been a phenomenal achievement to reach the playoffs in less than seven months of operation” stated Coach McLeod. “We look forward to Brisbane on Wednesday at home and hope that
Singapore backs the Slingers like they have done recently with the Singapore Lions. The guys truly deserve it,” added Mcleod.
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