Anthony January (white shirt) layups over Đặng Thái Hưng. Buffaloes beat Warriors in the second capital derby. Photo courtesy of VBA

HÀ NỘI — Hanoi Buffaloes won a dramatic 82-78 victory over Thang Long Warriors in the 28th match of VBA 2023 professional basketball tournament at Tây Hồ Stadium, Hà Nội.

In the first match between the two teams in the centralised stage, tickets were sold out, and this match was exactly the same with not an empty seat in the arena.

Before tip-off, the Warriors had a big disadvantage when their number one scorer, Sameen Swint, could not play. This was just to an administrative oversight that left his name off the official starting line-up.

On the opposite side, Buffaloes brought their strongest team for the derby match.

Without Swint, Warriors had to rely on John Fields. Thanks to his good performance, the home team took the advantage to lead 23-20 when the first quarter ended.

Entering the second quarter, Buffaloes actively double teamed or even triple teamed John Fields.

The Warriors' 2.06m-tall player faced many difficulties in front of the Buffaloes' defence.

On the offensive front, captain Nguyễn Tiến Dương and Đinh Tiến Công scored points to help the Buffaloes regain the lead.

The score was 37-49 for Buffaloes before the break.

When the third quarter passed in the first minutes, the gap was raised to 17 points (57-40) by Udun Osakue.

Not wanting to lose in the first match at home, the Warriors players rushed to attack. Lê Hiếu Thành had a successful three-point shot, starting the home team's 14-point streak, thereby shortening the gap to a three-point game (54-57).

The two teams then played tit-for-tat and the score was 64-60 for the visitors at the end of the third quarter.

Đinh Thanh Tâm suddenly scored important points to help the Buffaloes raise the gap to nine points at the beginning of the last quarter.

For the rest of the game, the Buffaloes played firmly and successfully made free throws in the final minutes to preserve the score. Hanoi Buffaloes won a well-deserved victory over Thang Long Warriors with a score of 82-78.

Anthony January of the Buffaloes once again won the Player of the Game award with 29 points and 8 rebounds.

With this win, Buffaloes secured their second place in the standing with seven wins and two losses. VNS