Xuân Đăng

HCM CITY — The final matchup of the VBA regular season between the HCM City Wings and the Cần Thơ Catfish was dramatic until the last minute.

The game was held on August 6 at Hồ Xuân Hương Gymnasium, District 3, HCM City. 

The guest Catfish aimed to have another win against the City Wings to secure second place in the rankings.

Beginning the match, the City Wings were the better team. The home team's relentless attacks put the Catfish players on their heels.

Both teams made four three-pointers. Meanwhile, Shon Briggs of the City Wings made it difficult for the visitors' defenders in the paint area. The home team led 25-20 after the first quarter. 

Within only one minute of the second quarter, the Catfish's rising star, Lê Khắc Đăng Khoa, had to leave the court because of his third personal foul.

The lack of their main scorer made the visitors' attack lose some of its sharpness.

Coach Lê Trần Minh Nghĩa had to use reserve players to counter the impressive performance of the duo Khoa Trần and Maurice Gordon of the City Wings.

The Catfish ended the first two quarters at a big disadvantage down 44-29.

In the third quarter, Khoa returned to the court and quickly made an impact with his teammates to start a 10-0 scoring streak, including two three-pointers.

In addition, Dakota Zinser also started to play explosively at the three-pointer line. 

By the seventh minute, the guests were ahead 50-48 thanks to an important three-pointer from captain Tâm Đinh.

Unexpectedly losing all the advantage they had built up, coach Lee Tao Dana and his team increased the pressure. At the same time, the key players also exerted their strength to help the home team regain control. At the end of the third quarter, Khoa Trần's three-pointer helped the City Wings regain a fragile lead of 59-55.

In the deciding quarter, for most of the time, the two teams played neck and neck and kept the advantage no more than five points.

When there was one minute left on the clock, Trương Hoàng Trung scored a three-pointer and two free throws to help the guest equalise the score at 78-78.

In the last possession play of the home team, Briggs overcame all three defenders of the guest team to score for an 80-78 advantage to the City Wings.

It seemed that the victory belonged to the home team, but with just 1.9 seconds left on the clock, Zinser received the ball from Hoàng Trung and successfully executed a three-point shot in a difficult position.

Thanks to the classy finish, the American player made the Hồ Xuân Hương Gymnasium explode, and the Catfish won an unbelievable 81-80 victory.

"I am very proud of the way my players performed. The whole team did not start well and we were down 15 points in the first two quarters. However, we did not complain about each other for the mistakes we made. After the break, everyone raised their energy, defended passionately and played more actively. At the decisive moment, each team had their own strategy. However, we were the luckier team," Coach Lê Trần Minh Nghĩa shared about the emotional victory.

With this result, the positions of the two teams in the rankings remain unchanged. Accordingly, the Catfish with seven wins and three losses secure second place and the City Wings are still in sixth place with two wins and ten losses. 

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