Elijah Weaver (black shirt) with 28 points helped the defending champion Saigon Heat to take the first win in their VBA 2024's semi-final series against the Nha Trang Dolphins. Photo courtesy of VBA

HCM CITY - The defending champion Saigon Heat secured the first win in their VBA 2024's semi-final series against the Nha Trang Dolphins.

The semi-final is held as a best-of-three series. The other semi-final features the Cần Thơ Catfish against the Hanoi Buffaloes. 

In the starting lineup, the representative of HCM City used the local trio of Kim Bản, Phú Vinh and Minh An who have brought four championships for the Heat and a pair of foreign players.

On the other side, the Nha Trang team started with the duo of local point guard and shooting guard Huỳnh Thanh Tâm and Nguyễn Hoàng Phúc, the best Vietnamese-American star of last season Dominique Tham and two foreign players.  

In the first quarter, the home team took many shots from the three-point line, helping it take the lead, led by Elijah Weaver, who had three three-pointers.

Meanwhile, the Dolphins focused the ball in the paint area to score. Good performances by their main players, especially Joe Mvuezolo, helped the guests stay close with the score of 24-21.

In the second quarter, the Heat's offense made many turnovers which caused the red team to fall behind.

However, thanks to the timely brilliance of local duo Võ Kim Bản and Nguyễn Huỳnh Phú Vinh, the Heat quickly tied the score at 36-36. Before the break, Elijah Weaver tried his best to help the home team regain a fragile lead of 43-39.

In the third quarter, the Heat's lead was constantly pressured by the Dolphins. In the eighth minute, after many efforts to break away, the home team first created a nine-point lead of 61-52 thanks to a 10-2 streak. However, with the fierce resistance of the guests, the lead quickly faded to only a five-point difference of 63-58.

For most of the last quarter, the Heat struggled to protect the lead of five points. In the final minute, Dominique Tham and Mykal Jenkins heated up the atmosphere of the CIS gymnasium when they close the score at 83-82.

As time was dwindling down, the Dolphins exchanged fouls for time. At the free throw line, Kim Bản successfully executed one out of two of his free throws. In the last second, Nguyễn Hoàng Phúc broke through but failed a layup attempt.

The Dolphins had to accept a narrow defeat of 84-82.

Elijah Weaver, the top scorer of the Heat, was the Player of the Game with 28 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists.

"The Nha Trang Dolphins are really a tough opponent. They have good players to play in the paint area like Dominique Tham and Mykal Jenkins. Other local players are also excellent. We will continue to focus all our efforts to win the next match," Weaver shared.VNS