The top three teams, Philippine Patriots, Satria Muda BritAma and Singapore Slingers don’t have much to worry about as their place in the playoffs are sealed with one point separating the top three teams.

The Philippine Patriots who are currently at the top of the league standings have two more matches to go, facing Thailand Tigers at Nimibutr National Stadium, Bangkok on 17 January and Brunei Barracudas at Ynares Sports Arena, Manila on 24 January. The Philippine Patriots have a clean home track record, winning all 7 home matches, but seem to be facing difficulty maintaining their winning streak for away matches, having only won 2 of their 6 away games.

Second placed Satria Muda BritAma also has two more matches remaining, going up against Brunei Barracudas at the Brunei Indoor Stadium, Bandar Seri Begawan on 16 January and against the KL Dragons at the BritAma Arena on 23 January. Satria Muda has managed to win 5 of their 7 home matches and 3 of their 6 away matches. Satria Muda BritAma also has a clean sheet against both Brunei Barracudas and KL Dragons, emerging as the winner in all previous meets.

Singapore Slingers who are third in the league standings, have three away matches facing them en route to the playoffs. Facing KL Dragons at MABA Stadium Malaysia on 17 January, the Slingers have 3 days till their next match on 20 January where they will face the Brunei Barracudas at the Brunei Indoor Stadium, Bandar Seri Begawan. The team will then travel to Bangkok to face Thailand Tigers at Nimibutr National Stadium on 24 January. The Singapore Slingers have so far won both matches against Brunei Barracudas, but have loss one each to both KL Dragons and Thailand Tigers.

The heat is on for both Brunei Barracudas and KL Dragons as they fight for the coveted fourth position, which is the last qualifying position for the playoffs. Currently in fourth place, the KL Dragons have been inconsistent in their performance this season, so far winning 4 of their 6 home matches and only winning 2 of their 7 away matches. The KL Dragons have managed to serve up some breath-taking wins, emerging winners at the away match against Singapore Slingers on 22 November and recently winning their home game against Philippine Patriots on 9 January. With one home and one away match left to go, the KL Dragons have to win both matches if they are to maintain their contention in the playoffs.

Breathing down the Dragons’ neck is Brunei Barracudas who have three more matches to go, where they will be facing the top three teams, Philippine Patriots, Satria Muda BritAma and Singapore Slingers. The Barracudas, who have so far won one match out of the six lineups against the top three, will have to push hard and win at least two matches if they are to overtake the KL Dragons.

In sixth place is Thailand Tigers who have two more matches to go, facing both Philippine Patriots and Singapore Slingers at home. The Thailand Tigers so far have 16 points from 13 matches which puts them out of contention for the playoffs, but the Tigers will not be making life easy for both teams especially Singapore Slingers who lost their home match to the Thailand Tigers on 7 December.

LEAGUE STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 13, AS AT 13 JANUARY 2010

For more information, please contact Mr Kuhan Foo, Chief Executive Officer of the ASEAN Basketball League at email kuhan@aseanbasketballleague.com, or Samantha Surin, Marketing at +6016 219 8847 or email samantha@aseanbasketballleague.com.