By Dawn Tay

THE Singapore Slingers romped to their fourth straight win in the Asean Basketball League (ABL), with a 96-72 victory over Satria Muda BritAma yesterday.

The Indonesian team had no answer to the sharp-shooting Slingers, who shot an impressive 65 per cent from the field, and ended the first half with a 25-point lead at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Despite having more shot attempts than the hosts, Satria Muda were plagued with shooting woes and scored a dismal 38 per cent from the field. In the absence of their big man, Theophilus Little, who was benched inexplicably for much of the game, they turned to their other American import, Alexander Hartman, who scored 28 points.

In contrast, the Slingers' American imports, Kyle Jeffers and Man-of-the-Match Michael Leblanc, combined to pour in 40 points and grab 21 boards for the hosts.

The emphatic win means that the Slingers have cemented their position as ABL leaders and remain the only unbeaten team in the league.

Nonetheless, Slingers head coach Frank Arsego will not be happy with his team's sloppy handling of the ball - the Slingers made an uncharacteristic 21 turnovers.

Another point of concern is veteran Filipino point guard Al Vergara, who left the game in the second quarter with a knee injury and did not return.

With 11 regular-season games to go, the Slingers next face a stiff away-game challenge against the Philippine Patriots, whose home game with Brunei Barracudas last Saturday was postponed owing to bad weather.

dawnt@sph.com.sg

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