Don’t look now, but the Mono Vampire Basketball Club is on a roll in the ASEAN Basketball League.
Leaning on a dominant performance by World Import Reggie Johnson, Mono Vampire picked up it’s third win of the season, a 90-78 decision over the Singapore Slingers at Stadium 29, Bangkok City.
The burly big man of Mono Vampire tallied 25 points and 16 rebounds, leading the charge against a Slingers squad that were searching for answers all game long on how to stop him.
But Johnson didn’t do it alone, as he got all sorts of help from his teammates to pick up the victory. Heritage Import Paul Zamar had another solid performance, finishing with 17 points highlighted by 4 triples, as well as 4 rebounds and 3 assists. The Filipino teamed up with Johnson to provide a consistent inside and out threat, breaking open in the third quarter what was a close game at the half.
With the game tied at 43-all heading into the second half, Mono Vampire went on another searing run, as they outscored the Slingers 37-16 in the quarter. Utilizing their running attack quarterbacked by Jason Brickman, Mono Vampire kept running in transition at every opportunity, and the Slingers were simply unable to keep up with their opponents. The Thai-based squad finished with 20 fastbreak points, compared to only 10 for the Slingers.
That would lead to the Slingers staring at a 23 point deficit at one point in the period, the biggest of the game. However, they battled back in the final canto, Beginning the fourth quarter with an 11-3 run. Two free throws by Xavier Alexander with 2:43 left in the game would trim the deficit to single digits, 87-78.
But that would be the closest Singapore would get, as a Patrick Sanders free throw and Chitchai Ananti layup would restore a 12 point lead to Mono Vampire. Both teams would be unable to score beginning at the 1:36 until the end of the game, ensuring the victory for the home squad.
The biggest culprit in the Slingers’ loss was their shooting, as they were limited to only 39% from the field, and 28% from the three-point area. Mono Vampire challenged the Slingers repeatedly to beat them from the outside, but the shot simply refused to drop for the visiting team. As a result, Singapore was unable to keep up with the attack of Mono Vampire, particularly in the third period where the game was broken wide open.
The Slingers were led by Xavier Alexander, finishing with 20 points on 6/20 from the field, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists. Heritage Import AJ Mandani had another solid game with 14 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists.
Teerawat Chanthachon was solid for the home team, contributing 12 points and 5 rebounds. It wasn’t a good scoring night for Brickman, but he still had an impact, highlighted by the 12 assists he dished out for his squad.
Mono Vampire also got valuable contributions off the bench from Chitchai Ananti, who tallied 10 points on 5/8 shooting. The team as a whole got 17 points from the bench, while their counterparts only had 10.
Mono Vampire climbs to 3-1 in the standings, only trailing the undefeated Chongson Kung-Fu and Hong Kong Eastern Basketball Team. The Singapore Slingers falls to 2-2 in solo 4th place.
