Basketball: Singapore Slingers lose to Philippine Patriots in ASEAN League

SINGAPORE: The Singapore Slingers crashed to their first defeat in the ASEAN Basketball League Saturday afternoon, losing 53—70 to the Philippine Patriots at The Arena in Manila.

Last month in Singapore, the Slingers were five points winners over the Patriots.

But this time around, the telling statistic is the number of players. The Patriots fielded a full team of 12, with points coming from 11 of them, while the Slingers were only able to bring seven fully fit players to the game.

Two members were left quarantined at the hotel with suspected chickenpox, while one half—fit player, point guard Al Vergara played with a sore knee and scored 12 points.

The Slingers never fully recovered from being 14 points behind after the first quarter.

They will need to shrug off this 17 point blow—off quickly, as they go on the road again for their next match in a week’s time against Satria Muda Britama in Jakarta.

— CNA/yb