Basketball

Madarious Gibbs of the Dolphins (left) takes to ball and passes Phạm Nhật Thái Quang of the Warriors during their VBA match 22 on July 8 in Nha Trang City. The Dolphins win 100-73. Photo courtesy of VBA

HÀ NỘI — The Nha Trang Dolphins won their first match of the 2023 VBA's second phase beating Thang Long Warriors 100-73 on Saturday.

The teams were back in action after a week of rest, gearing up for the tournament's next round of games from July 8 to September 3.

It was the second meet between the Dolphins and the Warriors. In the first, the Dolphins, the newest member of the VBA, beat the Warriors 82-77 in a thrilling match that couldn't be decided until the very end.

In the second meet, the Dolphins had a home advantage while the Warriors did not have their foreign defender Sameen Swint who was sidelined because of three technical faults from previous games.

The absence of the sharp-point hunter Swint caused the poor performance of the Warriors. They couldn't break into the Dolphins' three-meter line area, leading to a low result from their team. Just having John Fields in the front line was not enough to lift them up.

On the home side, the Dolphins' local and foreign players seized points in their counter-attacks.

Three-pointers from Võ Huy Hoàn and Huỳnh Vĩnh Quang helped the Dolphins get ahead from the beginning. Madarious Gibbs continued to push the team up which ended the first half at 66-39.

In the second half, Fields and his young teammates Nguyễn Thành Công and Nguyễn Tuấn Anh worked hard to score points. But their effort was only enough to narrow the gap to 77-59.

With just 90 seconds left, the Dolphins maintained their domination at 97-71.

Trương Hoàng Trung scored two more points for the Warriors to make it 97-73 but Lâm Quang Sáng was better. He made a perfect three-pointer to wrap up the 100-73 win for the Dolphins.

Gibbs took the Player of the Game award with 30 points, seven rebounds, and 11 assists.

The Dolphins were strong in second place in the standings after their fifth win this season. They will play the Danang Dragons on July 14. The Warriors are at fourth and will visit Danang Dragons on July 11. VNS