Captain Rudy Lingganay and Zamboanga saved their best for last, racking up an 87-79 win over home team Slingers to close out the Singapore Leg of the 2023 ABL Invitationals, Sunday at OCBC Arena.
The Valientes end the leg with a 2-2 record — tied with the Slingers and NS Matrix — before heading to Batam leg of the tournament which takes place from January 12-18.
It was a morale-boosting win for Zamboanga, who clawed back from an 11-point deficit early before closing out with a scintillating final frame.
Up by just five with 6:32 remaining, Ryan Smith, Rudy Lingganay, and Antonio Hester joined hands in a blitz that gave them an 82-69 lead with under three minutes remaining.
Though Chanceler Gettys tried to give life to the Slingers, Lingganay nailed a huge triple while Smith followed it up with a jumper for an 87-72 lead with 1:16 left.
Hester once again led the way for Zamboanga with 28 points and 10 rebounds in a no relief effort. Smith got 15 points and 13 rebounds.
Lingganay played his best game so far with 14 points as he stepped up for James Kwekuteye (nine points on 4-of-14 shooting) and Jeremy Arthur (eight points).
Kentrell Barkley paced Singapore with 29 points and 11 rebounds while Gettys got 19 points and 14 boards.
Xavier Alexander flirted with a triple-double with 11 points, 11 rebounds, and nine assists while Delvin Goh chipped in 12 points.
