Young player Sơn Minh Tâm helped the Dolphins defeat Catfish in the last seconds. Photo courtesy of VBA

CẦN THƠ — The Cantho Catfish once again missed their first chance to win at home, losing to the Nha Trang Dolphins by a score of 78-80.

The game was played on Sunday at Cần Thơ Gymnasium.

Before entering the contest, the Dolphins were favoured due to their better squad quality.

The Dolphins jumped out to a 15-7 lead in the first five minutes of the first quarter.

But the biggest turning point of the game took place when Madarious Gibbs of the Dolphins threw the ball straight into DeAngelo Hamilton's face when he tried to save the ball from going out of bound.

Gibbs was ejected after that play.

Losing their number one scoring star and "conductor" who controlled the ball in less than two minutes, the Dolphins were equalized 19-19 by the Catfish.

The first quarter ended with the score 24-25 for the Dolphins.

In the second quarter, young player Nguyễn Hoàng Phúc took over the point guard position, and Catfish players put pressure on him. This strategy worked when Michael Soy and Lê Ngọc Tú stole the ball and quickly counterattacked to score points for the Catfish.

The home team therefore increased the lead.

With two minutes left in the second quarter, the Dolphins had a difficult time when Dominique Tham had to leave the court due to injury after colliding with DeAngelo Hamilton in an attack.

The absence of key players caused the Dolphins to close the second quarter with a score of 52-41.

After the break, Dominique Tham returned to the game and quickly scored for the Dolphins. The spirit of the guests lifted thanks to the return of Tham.

Having been outplayed in the first minutes of the third quarter, Brachon Griffin of the Catfish sought to create a safe lead for the home team.

The Catfish entered the fourth quarter with a 10-point advantage, 67-57.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, young players Nguyễn Hoàng Phúc and Nguyễn Phúc Vinh shined to score six consecutive points to help the Dolphins close the gap to 67-63.

A lead of over five points was maintained by the Catfish until Robert Sampson scored six consecutive points to bring the score to 76-74.

When just over one minute left, Phúc Vinh equalized at 76-76 for the away team after a successful tip-in.

Right after that, Griffin had a counterattack and once again the home team was ahead at 78-76.

Coach Predrag Lukic of the Dolphins called a timeout and surprised the Catfish defense when he directed Hoàng Phúc to lead the attack.

The player born in 2003 did not disappoint Dolphins fans when he dribbled the ball and had a layup to equalize the score 78-78 for the Dolphins.

At the decisive moment, Lê Ngọc Tú lost the ball in the last attacking play of the Catfish from which Sơn Minh Tâm of the Dolphins got two points easily to raise the score to 80-78 for the Dolphins.

The remaining time was too short for the Catfish to put the game into overtime. Victory belonged to the Dolphins.

Sampson won the Player of the Game award with 24 points and 20 rebounds. VNS