Basketball

AIP Dreamers take top position at the Saigon ProAm Basketball Cup after beating Next Level in the final on March 23 in HCM City. Photos of Next Sports

HCM CITY — AIP Dreamers defeated reigning champion Next Level 111-89 to walk away with the trophy of the Saigon ProAm Basketball Cup by VNPAY at the Hồ Xuân Hương Gymnasium, HCM City on March 23.

Both sides stormed to the final after establishing their domination in the group rounds.

With their VBA members, especially towering Deangelo Hamilton and Hassan Thomas, the Dreamers were the better side in the first quarter, taking the lead with sharp attacks and strong defence.

It was 13-5 for the Dreamers after three minutes and Next Level had to take an early time-out.

Captain Nguyễn Tuấn Tú and Justin Young's accurate shots narrowed the gap for the Next Level at 16-12 at the quarter's half time and 17-15 at 3.30.

Khoa Trần of AIP Dreamers jumps during the final match.

Their effort was paid off when it was narrowed to 24-23 but the Dreamers did not stay still. Hamilton broke through to make it 26-23 before Đức Trí scored two points for the Next Level just a second to the interval.

The reigning champion went ahead for the first time in the second quarter. Hoàng Tú's perfect three-pointer made it 35-35 at 6.31 before captain Tuấn Tú added another 10 seconds later, 38-35 for Next Level.

Khoa Trần and Michael Soy just gave them 50 seconds of happiness. Their shots pushed the Dreamers back on top at 41-38 at 5.34.

Despite strong effort, Next Level could not break the Dreamers' high speed to end the second quarter at 63-50.

The third quarter totally belonged to the Dreamers as they extended the gap to 70-50 at 8.42 and 88-63 at the end. Their outstanding performance created many challenges for Next Level who finally lost 111-89 and became former winner.

Earlier, in the third-place playoff, In'n'Out beat Phú Thọ 3F 83-82 to take bronze medal.

The Dreamers received a VNĐ70 million bonus and a place in the Vietnam ProAm Basketball Championship later this year.

Michael Soy of AIP Dreamers is voted Most Valuable Player of the tournament.

Additionally, their player Soy was MVP. He set a Vietnam ProAm Basketball Championship new record of 18 three-pointers and another of 54 points in a game, 12 more than the old record set by Nguyễn Anh Kiệt of Hidden Dragons at the Hà Nội stage last year.

The tournament was jointly organised by New Sports and VTVcab, along with sponsors. — VNS