MISFIRING SLINGERS SUFFER FIRST LOSS

Poor shooting plagues home side in 68-52 defeat by Hong Kong Eastern in ABL clash

- Laura Chia

Trailing by a massive 16 points with five seconds to go, the Singapore Slingers had no chance of winning, but could reduce their deficit against Hong Kong Eastern with one last attempt.

But after a lacklustre pass from Larry Liew to the unmarked Chanceler Gettys was intercepted by Eastern's O'Darien Bassett at the three-point line, Gettys could only sigh in disbelief.

Bassett then ran out of time to score another basket in a sequence that summed up the Slingers' disjointed performance on Saturday night. They struggled in almost all departments, slumping to a 68-52 defeat at the OCBC Arena.

It was their first defeat after three matches in the 2023 Asean Basketball League Invitational and the rueful smiles on the faces of coach Neo Beng Siang, Gettys and Xavier Alexander after the game said it all.

Neo had expected a tough fight from Eastern but was left disappointed by his players' meek performance.

He said: "We weren't disciplined enough to execute our offensive and overall, our defensive end is also horrible.

"Eastern are tough, they're aggressive and that really killed us because we were a bit soft today."