SINGAPORE – Trailing 86-85 with 15 seconds to go, the Singapore Slingers grabbed a rebound off Evan Gilyard Jr’s missed lay-up and had the perfect opportunity to snatch the win and reach their fourth Asean Basketball League Finals.
But Chanceler Gettys, Xavier Alexander and Kentrell Barkley could not find the basket in those dying seconds and the Nguyen Du Arena in Ho Chi Minh City erupted into thunderous cheers as hosts Saigon Heat reached their first ABL finals. They won the best-of-three semi-finals 2-1.
Despite missing the Finals by such a slim margin, Slingers coach Neo Beng Siang refused to criticise his players. Instead he held himself accountable, saying: “I’m disappointed with the results, I blame myself and will reflect on myself. I’m proud of them. All of them showed resilience and perseverance. It’s not the results we wanted, but I’m proud of them and I salute them.”
The Slingers could have earned their ticket to the Finals earlier after a dominant 94-82 Game 1 victory on Monday. They had led by 11 points in the third quarter of Game 2 but were hindered by injuries, shot-clock violations and foul trouble, allowing the Heat to force overtime and eventually triumph 81-79.
During Thursday’s Game 3, the Slingers had again raced to a 10-point lead after reverting to their usual offensive style. They still kept the tempo slow and were in no rush to shoot, but were more mindful after being undone by costly shot-clock violations in Game 2.
The Heat, meanwhile, struggled to find the basket until Jeremy Combs and Gilyard found their spark to score nine points each, reducing the Slingers’ lead to 21-18 after the first quarter.
A momentary lapse saw the Slingers rebuild a nine-point lead, but it was then the Singapore side’s turn to misfire. The visitors captured just 18 rebounds to the Heat’s 25 in the first half and those proved costly as the hosts went on a 15-0 run to lead 42-36 at half-time.
They carried their momentum into the third quarter, amassing a 13-point lead. But the Slingers fought back with crucial treys from Gettys and Larry Liew. Barkley was also a semblance of his usual self after hobbling off in Game 1 and a muted display in Game 2.
After rare unforced errors from the Heat, the Slingers closed the gap to 64-62 and went in front early in the fourth quarter with the lead changing hands multiple times.
But as the Slingers led 81-78 with 4min 4sec to go, Gilyard proved the difference again in front of a vociferous crowd.
He scored his team’s last eight points to help them lead 86-85 and, while he missed his last attempt and handed the Slingers the ball with 15 seconds to go, they were unable to snatch the win and Finals spot as all three imports missed their shots.
Neo said the plan had been to stay strong and play together as a team, and they had been confident of getting the win.
Wishing his players the best as they embark on national team duty, overseas ventures or short breaks, he said: “I told them to keep running, not give up and just believe we can do it. But they gave their all and did a good job.”
