Saigon Heat team defeat Singapore Slingers 88-71 to officially earn a ticket to compete in the playoffs of the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) in the OCBC Arena. (Source: ABL) The Heat’s victory also eliminated defending champions WestportsMalaysia Dragons from playoff contention, despite the Dragon’s victory overKaohsiung Truth on March 18.
“I am very proud,” Heat head coach Tony Garbelotto said on theofficial tournament’s website. “We clinched it with two games to go.”
Heat Centre Jordan Henriquez paced the Heat with 20 points, 17rebounds, five assists and three blocks. He also held his own againstSingapore’s Howard, who had 22 points on 9/23 field goals.
However, Howard achieved personal milestones in the game. Hesurpassed 1,000 career rebounds in the ballgame, and leapfrogged Chris Charlesin total overall points in ABL history. Howard is now third all time, with1,361 points to his name.
“It was a huge victory,” Heat’s Moses Morgan said on the officialtournament’s website. “We knew they were going to come out and play well, withor without world import Xavier Alexander. Their locals stepped up, they madethe shots.”
“But we were able to pull away,” Morgan said proudly. “We got theball inside to Henriquez and Lenny Daniel, and they did what they were supposedto do inside. As a collective team, it was big for us.”
The past two victories of Saigon Heat have come against a HongKong side without Josh Boone, and the Slingers sans Alexander. But according tocoach Garbelotto, the calibre of the teams they defeated, with or withoutimports, should not be understated.
“These are not the low-level teams,” Garbelotto said. “These arethe top two teams who have history, very good structure and good coaching.These are not teams that are turning up to lie down. That’s why I knew it wasnot going to be easy.”
The Heat will celebrate their formal entry into the playoffs, butthey know their work is not done, especially with two games remaining on theircalendar.-VNA
VNA
