It was a stressful Sunday as the Singapore Slingers and the Perth Wildcats fought it out at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in a nail biting overtime match. The Slingers emerged victorious, with a score of 112-105.

The Perth Wildcats slashed the Slingers by over 30 points in their 1st encounter of the Hummer NBL Championships 2007/2008. They may be young, but they have certainly proven their potential in the match on Nov 4 as the Slingers belted out a full defensive system that kept the Wildcats well under their hands.

1st Quarter

Jeff Dowdell from the Wildcats showed an exemplary 1st quarter performance by chalking up 13 points on his own. The Slingers finally snapped out of their symptomatic slow start as they ended the period as the leading team with a score of 22-21.

2nd Quarter

The Slingers stretched their lead further in the 2nd period, mostly ahead of the Wildcats by 6 points. With a resistance that kept the Wildcats’ field goal percentage at 37.8% and a pretty mean offence, the game was going well for the Slingers. American import Mike Helms flashed his prowess, giving a successful shot outside the arc at the buzzer, bringing his personal score to 22 points and the Slingers to a lead of 53-47 at half time. Needless to say, Helms also scored resounding cheers from the crowd.

3rd Quarter

It was an unnerving quarter as the Wildcats sprung back into action after the 1st half of the game. Alex Loughton, who scored 13 personal points in this quarter also put in a 3-pointer with about 8 minutes left of the period, which gave the Wildcats their 1st lead of 56-55 since the start of the game. It was a wild chase as the scores on both sides inched upwards after each team’s possession of the ball. After a bleeding Shawn Redhage was sent out of the court temporarily due to a collision with several Slingers, Shane McDonald brought the period to a dramatic 70-all end with 2 successful free shots at the very last second.

4th Quarter

The Slingers came back into the quarter stronger as centre Chris Cameron put in 2 consecutive 3-pointers, followed by Helms’ pair of converted free throws with 4 minutes left of the game. This gave the home team a lead of 87-76. Although Wildcats Peter Crawford and Gerald Brown were fouled out by the last 3 minutes of the game, with the Slingers leading at a high score of 92-80, a capable Brad Robbins came off the bench to provide the Wildcats with a glimmer of hope. A lay-up by Robbins also saw a pair of converted free throws by Redhage and a 3-pointer by Loughton, followed up by a steal, which warranted his team a fast break lay-up. The Slingers fought to keep the Wildcats under them and adrenaline was pumping not only in the players but also the crowd as Robbins scored a lay-up in the last few seconds of the game, bringing it to a tie of 94-all.

A bout of whistle blowing as the points on each team inched up made the last 5 minutes seem longer than it was as the crowd was kept at the edge of their seats. It seemed unclear who the winner of the match would be till Rod Grizzard’s 3-point play brought Slingers to a lead of 105-100. The final moments saw a victorious ray cast upon the Slingers as Helms converted a pair of free shots in the last 26 seconds. Grizzard did so similarly in the last 13 seconds, ending the game with a score of 112-105. Helms was truly on top form that night as he ended the game with a personal score of 44 points.

Gordie says…

Coach Gordon McLeod was clearly pleased with the results of the game as he complemented the team for the fantastic effort and said it was “great to see the guys rewarded for the hard work they put in during the week”.

With satisfaction written on his face, he too recognised the fact that the Slingers managed to play a consistent game on Sunday.

“For a young team like us, we’re going to enjoy every win we get and I think the way we played tonight reflected our full week of practice. This is our most consistent game at both ends of the floor, and I was pleased with the way we finished the game off.”

“This was a good win and we really needed it.”

Top 3 scorers:

(Slingers) Helms, 44 / Grizzard, 24 / Janev, 13 / Knight, 13
(Wildcats) Rogers, 23/ Loughton, 20/ Redhage, 17

The Slingers will be playing their next game against the Adelaide 36ers at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Nov 11, 5pm.