Regional rivals Singapore Slingers and Westsports Malaysia Dragons figured in one of the most entertaining games of the 2017-18 ABL Season so far. As the dust settled, it was AJ Mandani and the Slingers who came out on top, outlasting the Dragons in double overtime, 90-89, Sunday evening at the OCBC Arena in Kallang, Singapore.
With the win, Singapore won the Straits Cup as the Slingers took the series, 2-0. Singapore drew first blood with 94-85 road win last January 21.
Filipino-Canadian AJ Mandani scored just two points off the bench, but delivered with eight rebounds, five assists, and two steals. Moreover, he helped hold down Filipino-American Joshua Munzon to just 9-for-24 shooting from the field.
Munzon, on the other hand, still managed to finish with 20 points, 10 assists, and four steals. Filipino Patrick Cabahug’s efforts also went to waste even if he tallied his season-high of 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting.
Munzon had the chance to win the contest with four seconds remaining. Down by just a solitary point, his jumper would have evened the series between the two regional rivals, but he missed. Cabahug was able to knot the game prior at 89-all with 38 seconds remaining. But an Ivan Yeo foul on Xavier Alexander led to the game-winning free throw with 22 ticks left.
Westsports led by as much as six points in the second overtime.
The game almost did not reach extra time as Singapore was up by four points with 11 seconds remaining in regulation. Mandani was called for an off ball foul that led to two free throws for Munzon. Seconds later, a miss by Chun Hong Ting later on was cleaned up by Munzon, as time expired to extend the contest.
Singapore World Import Xavier Alexander almost had a triple-double in the contest, tallying a game-high 32 points to go along with eight rebounds and eight assists. Chris Charles added 17 points and eight rebounds.
Westsports was led by local Tian Yuen Kuek with 21 points and 15 rebounds. Marcus Marshall struggled in the contest, shooting just 4-for-22 from the field for 13 points.
The Slingers are now 7-6 in the standings, while Westsports dropped to 3-7.
