The Slingers were on fire from the start, running out to an 8-0 lead within the first minute of play. Aaron Trahair and Brad Davidson were lethal from behind the arc with four threes in two minutes, while Mike Helms and Ben Knight chipped in down low to see the Slingers out to a 12-point lead midway through the term.

Rosell Ellis led the way for the Dragons in the opening term with a team-high 10 points. Brent Hobba and Joe Ingles checked into the game with immediate impact, Ingles netting a quick four points and Hobba starring in a three-point play.

But the Slingers tallied almost double the Dragons’ boards and made the home side pay, converting ruthlessly on the scoreboard to take a seven-point advantage into the first break.

Hobba launched the second with a bomb from downtown that cut the margin to just four points. Ingles led the Dragons’ scoring with nine for the quarter but it was Ellis who trimmed the margin to two with his dunk five minutes out from the break.

Ellis stepped up the Dragons’ defence in the second term with a strong showing under the rim. Two points to Heal saw the Dragons gain a brief lead before Singapore hit back to end the term 59-58 in front.

Heal opened the third with one from two at the stripe before two points to Kavossy Franklin levelled the scores at 61 apiece. It was neck and neck for much of the term as both teams fought to gain a break.

Singapore found the answers late in the term, shooting out to a seven-point advantage with just under three minutes to play. Trahair piled on 13 for the term, seeing the Slingers out to a 92-78 lead by the last break.

Matt Shanahan had a field day on return from injury in the fourth, bagging three from downtown. But Singapore had all the momentum and shot out to an 18-point lead midway through the final term.

Hobba collected one for the highlights reel in defence but the Dragons were chasing an impossible target, ultimately going down by 14 points.

Heal later cited a low work rate as the reason for the Dragons’ demise. star

“We’ve had a fantastic season, we’ve got absolutely no pressure on us to do anything in the finals, a fantastic opportunity as a group to look back and say ‘what a great year with what we did as a group – we fought hard,’ but tonight that just didn’t happen,” he said.

South Dragons 100 (Ellis 18, Ingles 18, Heal 15)
Singapore Slingers 114 (Trahair 29, Helms 19, Knight 19, Melmeth 19)
Crowd: 6249 @ Vodafone Arena, 03/02/07