The Indonesia Warriors remained a game ahead of the Beermen
for top spot in the standings, while the Dragons solidified their hold on third
and the Slingers shot past the Slammers for fourth place after a scintillating
week of ABL basketball.
Last Wednesday, the Warriors defeated the Chang Thailand
Slammers thanks to 20 points from veteran playmaker Mario Wuysang. Wuysang, the
resident main point guard for Indonesia’s national team, shot 6-of-8 from
rainbow country as he focused more on shooting than distributing. It was John
Smith who became chief facilitator for Indonesia as the Fil-Am scattered 9
assists. ASEAN import Jerick Cañada scored 19 markers while Chris Daniels
finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds to backstop Wuysang and Smith. The
Slammers were led by the 30-point explosion of import Chris Charles.
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| Chris Charles led Chang Thailand's losing effort against the Warriors. |
A couple of days later, the Westports Malaysia Dragons beat
the Saigon Heat at home. Gavin Edwards and Moala Tautaa were practically
unstoppable, combining for 42 points and 13 rebounds as Malaysia won its eight
game to stay a few games behind the top two teams. Justin Melton also accounted
for himself well, scoring 10 points and dishing out 7 dimes for the home team. The
visitors were led, not surprisingly, by imports David Palmer and Dior Lowhorn,
both of whom combined for 55 points and 32 rebounds.
Things wouldn’t get better for Saigon over the weekend as
they visited the Singapore Indoor Stadium only to badly lose to the Slingers. Local
player Wei Long Wong had a career game for Singapore, scoring 29 points on the
strength of 5 triples and shooting 10-of-11 from the stripe. The vastly-improved
guard also added 6 boards for good measure. Rashad Jones-Jennings and Rashaad
Singleton paired up for 51 points and 26 rebounds as the Slingers handed Saigon
its ninth defeat of the season. The Heat got consistent offense from only three
guys – Lowhorn, Palmer, and Jai Reyes. That trio scored all but 6 of the
visitors’ output.
Game Recaps:
INDONESIA
WARRIORS over CHANG THAILAND SLAMMERS, 83-72
Mario Wuysang and Jerick Canada took turns getting hot from
the field. Wuysang made 6 three-pointers in the first half while Canada made 5
in the second half to power the Warriors past the Chang Thailand Slammers
83-72.
Wuysang led the Warriors with 20 points while Canada
finished with 19 points. Chris Daniels recorded his 11th double-double of the
season with 16 points and 13 rebounds. With this win, the Warriors are back at
the top of the ABL standings table with 10 wins and 3 losses.
The Slammers started the game slowly which allowed the
Warriors to have an early 11-2 lead on a Chris Daniels’ shot. But Chris Charles
and Wutipong Dasom sparked a Slammers 10-0 run which gave the Slammers a 12-11
lead with 2:40 left. Wuysang then hit back to back threes to end the first
quarter to give the Warriors a 23-16 lead.
The Warriors started to control the game late in the second
quarter. An 11-0 run which was capped off by a basket from Canada and a basket
off an offensive rebound by Steven Thomas, giving the Warriors a 40-25 lead
with 1:47 left before halftime.
Down in the double digits in the third quarter, Baguion and
Charles tried to rally their team back to the game by sparking a 9-0 run.
Baguion scored 5 points and Charles scored 4 points during that stretch to cut
the Warriors’ lead to 43-38 with 5:40 left in the third quarter.
Canada caught fire in the fourth quarter and the Slammers
seems to always to leave him open in the corner. Canada made four
three-pointers in the final quarter. His back to back three pointers with 2:28
left gave the Warriors their biggest lead of the game, 80-63.
Even though the Slammers suffered their 9th loss of the
season, the Slammers are still holding on to the fourth position. Charles led
all scoring with 30 points and 10 rebounds followed by Froilan Baguion with 11
points. Slammers’ rising star Dasom had a hard time shooting the ball as he
finished with only 4 points on 2 of 12 shooting.
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| Mario Wuysang shot really well as Indonesia kept its hold at the top. |
WESTPORTS
MALAYSIA DRAGONS over SAIGON HEAT, 75-64
Moala Tautuaa got hot at the right time for the Westports
Malaysia Dragons. Saigon Heat were creeping up on the Dragons midway through
the final quarter before Tautuaa scored 11 straight points to help the Dragons
grab a 75-64 win over the Heat at MABA Stadium, Malaysia.
Tautuaa finished the game with 21 points while Gavin Edwards
recorded a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Justin Melton chipped
in with 10 points and 7 assists for the Dragons who are now have a record of 8
wins and 6 losses.
The Heat could not find the basket in the first quarter,
missing their first 11 shots. While the Heat having trouble scoring, the
Dragons did not have the same problem. The first quarter was highlighted by
Melton throwing an off-the-glass pass to Marcus Hubbard for a jam which got all
the fans at MABA Stadium on their feet. Led by 8 points from Edwards and 6
points from Hubbard, the Dragons led 19-7 after the first quarter.
In his first game back, Dior Lowhorn was on top of his game.
Lowhorn missed two games at the ABL Hoops Fest Saigon 2013 due to a viral
infection. Lowhorn scored a last second shot before halftime to make sure that
his team is still in striking distance. Heat were down 35-21 to the Dragons at
halftime.
Coming out of the locker, Lowhorn was determine to help his
team cut their deficit. Lowhorn scored 7 straight points to cut the Dragons'
lead to 37-28 with 7:36 left in the third quarter. The Heat continue their
rally at the end of third quarter. A three-point play from David Palmer and a
lay-up from Al Vergara shaved the Dragons lead to 52-47 heading into the final
quarter.
Vergara started the fourth quarter with a one-dribble pull
up to get the Heat within 5 points. However, with 7 minutes left in the game,
Tautuaa started to take over the game with his aggressivenes. He started his
own 11-2 run with a three-point play against Chris Sumalinog. After receiving
11 straight points from Tautuaa, the Dragons stretched their lead 68-54 with
5:18 left.
Down 14 points in the last 5 minutes, the Heat were not able
to get crucial stops to get back in the game. Other than Lownhorn and Palmer,
no other Heat players were able to score more than 4 points. Lowhorn finished
with 35 points and 15 rebounds while Palmer had 20 points and 17 rebounds. The
Heat are now 3-9 and are still in a tight race with Chang Thailand Slammers and
JobStreet.com Singapore Slingers for the last playoffs spot.
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| Moala Tautaa exploded for 21 points versus the Heat. |
JOBSTREET.COM
SINGAPORE SLINGERS over SAIGON HEAT, 91-77
The Saigon Heat have always had problems stopping Rashad
Jones-Jennings this season and things were not much different this afternoon.
Jennings scored a season-high 37 points to help the JobStreet.com Singapore
Slingers snap a six-game losing streak after their 91-77 win over the Heat at
the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
"I let the game come to me. I was focused on taking my
time on the post," explained Jennings after the game. With this win, the
Slingers reclaim the fourth spot on the ABL standings table with a record of 5
wins and 9 losses. "From here and on, every game is a playoffs game for
us. We are trying to build from this win."
Wong Wei Long also had a career day as he scored 29 points
which included 5 three-pointers. Rashaad Singleton chipped in with 14 points
and 14 rebounds for the Slingers.
After struggling to find their offense this month, the
Slingers started the game by making their first seven shots. The Slingers took
an early 15-3 lead after Phillip Morrison made a nice spin move and lay-up plus
the foul. Jennings was unstoppable in the first quarter where he scored 13
points to help the Slingers grab a 27-15 lead after the first quarter.
The Slingers continued to build upon their lead in the
second quarter. A lay-up from Singleton and a three-point shot from Wei Long
gave the Slingers a 43-23 lead midway through the second quarter.
Wei Long and Singleton continued to attack the Heat in the
third quarter. The Heat were unable to find any answers to stop these two
players as they combined for 19 points
in the quarter. The Slingers grabbed their biggest lead in the game , 73-47, on
a Jennings' free throw with 3:28 left in the third quarter.
Down 23 points to start the fourth quarter, the Heat showed
their heart and continued to fight. Behind Dior Lowhorn and David Palmer, the
Heat slowly made a rally to catch the Slingers. A rainbow lay-up from Palmer
and another lay-up by Lowhorn cut their deficit to 10 points with 3:29 left.
Then, Jai Reyes made two free throws to get the Heat within 8 points. But Wei
Long denied the Heat's comeback with a cold-blooded three-point shot with 2:26
left.
Dior Lowhorn had another strong game for the Heat as he
finished with 34 point while David Palmer added 22 points and 18 rebounds. Jai
Reyes contributed 15 points for the Heat who are 3-9.
Source: Game recaps were
compressed and compiled from AseanBasketballLeague.com.
Images: Images are from
AseanBasketballLeague.com.
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