The Singapore Slingers played their 1st weekend game against the NZ Breakers which ended disappointingly with a score of 116-99 with the Breakers in the lead.

What could have been a potential victory went downhill from the 2nd quarter after the Breakers had an interval from the 1st quarter. The Breakers came back in top form. Their shots were on fire and the Slingers attempts to douse their flames eventually ran dry.

1st Quarter Performance

The Slingers had a slow start as usual, allowing the Breakers to lead 7-0. Luckily, Rod Grizzard provided them with the fuel to tie the game 7-7 after his reverse lay-up. It was a smooth quarter for the Slingers as a beautiful steal followed by a lay-up from Ben Knight pushed the team to a lead of 15-13. Grizzard treated the audience to his trademark dunk, giving the Slingers a 6 point lead. At this point in time, Breakers coach, Andrej Lemanis, was compelled to call for a time out. The Slingers ended the period with a lead of 28-20.

2nd Quarter Performance

The Breakers came back in 2nd quarter with the spirit to shoot as they went on a run to tie the game at 28-28. This time, Coach Gordon McLeod called for a time out. The Slingers did a good job of keeping the score tight, lagging only several points behind. Both teams gave their all, tussling for the ball several times. Unfortunately for the Slingers, the quarter ended with a gap of 9 points with the Breakers leading at 58-49.


 3rd Quarter Performance

With superb shooting skills, the Breakers came into the quarter with utmost accuracy. The Slingers struggled to keep the scores close but ultimately failed as the 10 over point lag in score was kept constant throughout the period. The quarter ended with a score of 85-71 with the Breakers in the lead.

4th Quarter Performance

It was a tough final quarter for the Slingers as they laboriously attempted to draw a closer score to the Breakers. Even as Grizzard snapped back into play, the Slingers failed to catch up. Star player Mike Helms lay low, scoring a disappointing 15 points for the entire game. The 22 point gap that surfaced sometime in the quarter indicated a hint of victory for the Breakers. True enough, as hard as the Slingers tried, the game ended sadly with a score of 116-99.

The Captain Speaks

Captain Ben Knight attributed the loss to the team’s carelessness and also complimented Kirk Penney’s performance. The National Basketball Association (NBA) drafted player chalked up a total of 24 points, 1 ore than Rick Rickert. Grizzard might have had an impressive score of 25 points, but one Grizzard is simply not enough for the team to claim victory.

Knight said, “You cannot afford to give away 116 points to teams that are struggling a little like the Breakers. That is just unacceptable and we have to pick it up defensively. At the moment we are just not good enough.”

Top 3 scorers:

(Slingers) Grizzard, 25 / Cameron, 16 / Helms, 15
(Breakers) Penney, 24 / Rickert, 23 / Forman, 17

The Slingers will be playing their next game against the Sydney Kings at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Oct 28, 5pm.