Slingers force ABL Finals decider, tame Dragons at the buzzer

ASEAN Basketball League/Kuk Thew

SINGAPORE — Wong Wei Long buried a jumper at the buzzer and Singapore beat Westports Malaysia, 75-73, on Sunday to send the 2016 ASEAN Basketball League Finals to a deciding Game 5 at OCBC Arena here.

Long received kick out pass from Fil-American guard Kris Rosales, who burned the time before setting the Slingers’ final play in motion, took a dribble then released the game-winner as the Singapore-dominated gallery erupted in celebration.

“Coach wanted Kris [Rosales] to penetrate. When I got the ball, [Jason] Brickman came to watch me. Without hesitation, I penetrated and popped the ball. When the ball released from my hand, I feel comfortable,” said the 27-year-old guard.

The play fittingly capped an intense Game 4 where Singapore tried to get a comfortable lead only to see the visting Malaysia side, which was down by 10 early in the game, furiously chipping away at the lead.

A midrange jumper from Justin Howard gave the Slingers a 61-53 lead with 8:22 play, but it had been anything but safe as free throws from Reggie Johnson and Matthew Wright brought it down to just two in a span of two minutes.

Back-to-back triples from Singapore courtesy of Rosales and Wong pushed the lead back to five, 73-68,  later on with 3:40 to play but Jason Brickman, Johnson and Cal Godfrey all conspired to tie the match at 73.

Johnson, who failed to reprise his monster performance in game 4, had a chance to give Malaysia a slim lead but he missed on his second freethrow with over a minute to play.

Howard and Xavier Alexander, who had a terrible game on Friday with just a combined output of 18, bounced back big and poured 31 and 15 points, respectively.

Wong struggled in the first half but still finished with eight points—all coming late in the fourth.

“I’m extremely happy. We came out strong and aggressive. Even when I’m not contributing in the points, my teammates are gonna step up. W won collectively as a team. It’s not just about me, it’s about the team,” Wong said.

“Today, we came off tough. Xavier led us to a great push, and Howard gave us a boost. We’re looking forward to game 5.”

It was a stark contrast from game 3 when Malaysia led by as many as 20 in the second half as Singapore’s imports barely made impact.

The final game of the season will be played back in Kuala Lumpur at MABA Stadium on Saturday with the top-seeded Dragons looking to bounce back and win their first ABL title at home.

Both teams have proved they’re capable of winning on the road with Singapore winning Game 1 and Malaysia taking a 2-1 series edge with a blowout victory in Game 3 last Friday.