SIN – Semi-final of ASEAN Basketball League goes down to the wire

SINGAPORE (ABL) – With the first edition of the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) nearing crunch time, the Singapore Slingers and Satria Muda BritAma are set to battle it out in the third and last leg of their semi-final. The winner will go through to join the Philippine Patriots in the best-of-five-games grand final.

After the first two legs, things are evenly poised with Satria and Singapore having secured solid wins in front of their home crowds.

In the first leg on Sunday, the Slingers drew first blood, defeating their opponents from Jakarta comfortably 87-68. American imports Kyle Jeffers and ABL leading scorer Michael Leblanc moved up a gear in the second half, both passing the 20-point mark in steering their side to victory.

The 19-point margin of victory might have suggested that things would, as in the other semi-final, be settled prior to the tie's last game.

But Satria, who have showed fine home form throughout the season, bounced back on Wednesday to square things up and bring the tie into a third and final game.

With a number of very strong performances that included a game-high 24 points by Nikiea Miller, the Jakartans cruised to a 74-45 victory. The result looked to be on the cards as the hosts led 38-21 at half time and stayed in firm control after the break.

So as the teams prepare for Sunday’s decisive meeting - which will be streamed live on FIBAtv.com- in Singapore, making any predictions would seem foolish.

Will regular season top finishers Singapore Slingers confirm their status as favourites or will Satria Muda create and upset and illustrate how competitive the first edition of the ASEAN Basketball league has been?

To find out, watch the game live and for free on Sunday 7th February (8:00 GMT) on FIBAtv.com.

FIBA