Malaysia Dragons seek tie in ABL Finals

Singapore Slingers. Photo from Asean Basketball League.

Westports Malaysia lost its homecourt advantage after losing the 2016 ASEAN Basketball League Finals opener to Singapore Friday night.

And for the Dragons to avoid ending up losing the best-of-five championship series as well, they have to approach Game 2 the way their head coach Ariel Vanguardia sees it.

“Yes, of course. [Game 2 is a must-win for us],” admitted Vanguardia shortly after the Dragons’ 84-80 loss before a packed crowd at MABA Stadium. “They stole our homecourt advantage that’s what they did today and if you’re an away team that’s what you’re going to tell your players.”

“We gotta protect homecourt next game because I think it’s going to be difficult to win two games in Singapore.”

Game 2 is on Sunday, 5:30 p.m., at MABA Stadium.

The series shifts to Singapore for Game 3 on Friday and if necessary Game 4 on March 19. The deciding game, assuming it goes the distance, will be played back here.

After taking Game 1 despite trailing for the most part, Slingers head coach Neo Beng Siang is confident his team will head home with a chance to sweep the series.

“Of course this win is big for our confidence. We can be happy but we can’t be satisfied yet because there are more games coming up. We need to concentrate,” said Beng Siang.

“A win away is definitely good for us. Hopefully, we can get ourselves a second win here. And with two games, and back-to-back at our home it’s definitely big for us.”

Playing in a hostile environment, the Slingers leaned on Xavier Alexander’s all-around game, Justin Howard’s inside presence and Kris Rosales’ defensive efforts in shutting down Malaysia’s main scoring threat Matthew Wright in a second-half comeback.

Alexander collected 27 points, 15 rebounds, nine assists, five steals and two blocks, Howard recorded 24 points and 11 rebounds while Rosales limited Wright to only two points in the final two quarters.