Jenkins with his dunk. The import player helped Nha Trang Dolphins back on race. Photo courtesy of VBA

By Xuân Đăng

HCM CITY — The tenth game of VBA 2024 was a match between the former runner up Nha Trang Dolphins and the underdog Đà Nẵng Dragons.

The match was expected to be very tense as the Dolphins are hungry for another win, while the young players of the Dragons are showing promise this season.

But what happened was completely opposite to what was expected. The two teams started the game slowly, with consecutive turnovers and players missed open scoring opportunities.

The Dolphins were the better team and led 23-6 after the first quarter.

However, the defending runner-up were disappointing in the second quarter as their players failed to increase the lead when the Dragons' Max Allen was on the bench due to foul trouble.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Marquis Davison and Nguyễn Đường Quang Anh scored to narrow the gap.

After a quiet first half, captain Bryan Nguyễn of the Dragons contributed to help the team catch up with their opponents at 28-31 before the break.

The third quarter was extremely tense as the two teams fought for every point.

But the Dragons' chances to win took a hit when Max Allen fouled out in the final minute of the third quarter.

The Dolphins quickly took control of the game in the fourth quarter and did not give the Dragons a chance to tie the game.

The duo of Mykal Jenkins and Dominique Tham controlled the paint and scored easy points. The game ended with a score of 85-68 for the Dolphins.

Jenkins, who was named Player of the Game with 35 points and 19 rebounds, had a good performance.

“We played pretty well. We started slow but things started to get going. The more we played together, the more united we became and the easier it was to get into a rhythm,” Jenkins said. VNS