Back to his role as the sixth man of the Slingers after two games, AJ Mandani provided the firepower that Singapore needed in a fourth quarter surge to stop the Westsports Malaysia Dragons, 93-85, Sunday afternoon at the MABA Stadium in Malaysia.
The win arrested the Slingers’ two-game losing streak, raising their slate to 6-6. Westsports, a team coming off a two-game winning streak that included a 91-87 win over Mikey Williams and the Saigon Heat last January 18, fell to 3-5.
Struggling in the first three quarters, Mandani made six of his eight points in the final frame. And those points were pivotal in fending off Westsports.
With Singapore clinging to a solitary point lead early in the fourth quarter, the Filipino-Canadian scored four straight points 8-0 run to gain a 74-67 lead with under seven minutes left. Another basket by Mandani followed by a breakaway layup with 5:18 remaining gave Singapore an 81-72 cushion.
Filipino exports Joshua Munzon and Patrick Cabahug tried to rally the home team back, as a triple by the latter cut the lead down to just three with 1:40 on the clock. Big buckets by Delvin Goh and Chris Charles sealed off the Malaysia-based club team.
Munzon went just 5-for-18 from the field to finish with 15 points, seven rebounds, and three steals. Cabahug chipped in eight points on 3-for-4 shooting off the bench.
Xavier Alexander led Singapore with 33 points, while Charles tallied a double-double with 25 points and 13 rebounds to go along with three swats. Singaporean Goh had 16 points, seven rebounds, and four assists.
Marcus Marshall paced Westsports with 22 points, playing all 40 minutes, as fellow World Import AJ West had a tough outing.
