Barracudas fail to nail playoff spot

By Low Lin Fhoong, TODAY | Posted: 21 January 2010 0757 hrs 

SINGAPORE - Humbled 78-71 by the KL Dragons in the Asean Basketball League (ABL) in Kuala Lumpur last Sunday, the Singapore Slingers bounced back to beat the Brunei Barracudas 95-89 at the Brunei Indoor Stadium on Wednesday.

Leading the Slingers were American imports Michael Leblanc and Kyle Jeffers with 26 and 19 points, respectively.

The Slingers are now second in the six-team league with just one game remaining, against the Thailand Tigers at the Nimibutr National Stadium this Sunday.

The Philippine Patriots lead the league with 24 points, the Slingers are a point behind and Indonesia's Satria Muda BritAma have 22.

Brunei and KL, who both have 20 points, are vying for the final play-off spot.

Slingers general manager Michael Johnson was ecstatic after the win, telling MediaCorp: "The guys are just jumping off the walls ... They played some great basketball and hung in tight, right till the end.

"The Brunei fans came with their drums and it was unbelievable, it was as close to a play-off atmosphere as we could get."

Singaporeans Hong Wei Jian and Desmond Oh earned kudos for their gutsy displays last night, contributing 11 and 10 points, respectively.

"These guys were impressive tonight, but it was not just them, all the players who did well in such an atmosphere," said Johnson.

The semi-finals for the ABL play-offs will see the Slingers battling Satria Muda. The best-of-three series tips off at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Jan 31. - 

Source: TODAY