National University Championship  

University of Đà Nẵng players celebrate their NUC's basketball win on November 14 in Hà Nội. Photos courtesy of VIetcontent

HÀ NỘI — University of Đà Nẵng beat host University of Transport and Communications to lift the trophy of the National University Championship (NUC)'s basketball tournament on November 14 in Hà Nội.

Under strong support of local fans who filled all space in the gymnasium, University of Transport and Communications (UTC) quickly scored and led 8-0 in the early time of the match.

Their promising start however didn't help them much as University of Đà Nẵng (UDN) quickly fought back and gradually narrowed the score.

Both sides play equally all four quarters that ended 65-65, forcing the final to enter the over-time.

In the five minutes of extra time, UDN proved stronger side in both offense and defense. They pulled ahead 71-69, and then widened the gap to 74-69 after a three-pointer by Hoàng Việt, effectively ending UTC’s hopes of equalising with only 13 seconds remaining.

UTC added two more points in the final moments, but it only narrowed the score to 74-71 – the final result.

It was the second time that UDN win the tournament. They also beat UTC in the first time in 2023. Meanwhile, it was UTC's third time losing in the final match.

University of Economics and Business, Vietnam National University and RMIT-HCM City shared the third position.

Tôn Đức Thắng University secure trophy of the women's championship.

Earlier, Tôn Đức Thắng University beat UDN 41-40 in the women's competition.

Both teams were eager to take the podium for the first time leading to an extremely competitive final. The girls from Tôn Đức Thắng could only take the crown in the last second of the match.

Vietnam National University and University of Economics-HCM City took bronze medals.

Lê Trung Khoa of UDN and Bùi Minh Thư of Tôn Đức Thắng were MVPs of the men's and women's tournaments, respectively.

The organisers also presented “NUC Favourite Players Empowerment Stories Contest" awards to Phương Đình An of National Economics University and Nguyễn Trúc Ly of University of Economics-HCM City. 

They were honoured for not only impressive performance but also positive energy and ability to connect student basketball community across the country.

The tournament known as the TV360 Cup is held by the Ministry of Education and Training, Max Sports, and Vietcontent.

It aimed to build an environment for physical training for students, nurturing the spirit of solidarity, creativity, and bravery – the core values ​​of the modern Vietnamese youth generation.

After basketball, the football tournament will be organised on November 18-29 at the Hà Nội University of Science and Technology's stadium. — VNS