Playing in front of the Indonesian representative, Saigon Heat is unbeaten in stage 1 of ABL Invitational 2023
Today, January 7, Saigon Heat entered the 4th match in 5 days and also the last appearance in stage 1 - ABL Invitational 2023.
Through the first three matches, Heat was unbeaten thanks to winning Macau Black Bears (Macau), NS Matrix Deers (Malaysia) and Zamboanga Valientes (Philippines), respectively.
The opponent in the last match of stage 1 of "Mr. 30" was Louvre Surabaya, a club from Indonesia. It seemed that this would be a tense match, but the scenario was completely opposite.
Right in the first half, Saigon Heat soon took the lead, creating a gap of more than 15 points thanks to the lead of conductor Evan Gilyard. This number was stretched to more than 20 at the end of the second half.
The Indonesian representative was not only powerless in attack but also often lacked contact in defense, creating a lot of easy finishing opportunities for Saigon Heat.
Round 3 is where the real rush comes in. The main squad of Saigon Heat opened a series of 15-0 points to start the third half, bringing the gap to 39 points (score 65-26).
Then another long run of Heat's points was scored, this time with a 20-3 run by Evan Gilyard's 3-point salvo. The third half ended with the score 89-39.
The last ten minutes of the match was the time for the Saigon Heat internal soldiers to show off. From here, the squad including Huynh Truc Nhan, Nguyen Anh Kiet, Vo Kim Ban, Nguyen Huynh Phu Vinh and Du Minh An gently brought the final victory to the Vietnamese representative.
The final whistle sounded with a score of 108-47, marking Saigon Heat's fourth unbeaten match at the ABL Invitational 2023.
Vo Kim Ban led the internal army with 14 points, including 4 successful 3-pointers. Du Minh An is right behind with 11 points, 6 assists and 100% FG rate.
30's foreign troops were led by Evan Gilyard with a double-double of 27 points, 10 assists in less than 24 minutes. Jeremy Combs (14 points, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks) and Jairus Holder (16 points, 4 rebounds, 4-7 3PT) are right behind.
Vietnamese-born player Hassan Thomas had 9 points, 14 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals, ending the match with relative ease for coach Matt Van Pelt's army.
After this match, Saigon Heat officially closed the first stage of the ABL Invitational 2023 with an unbeaten record in all 4 matches. They will take a short break for a few days before leaving for Indonesia to compete in stage 2.
The first match in the land of ten thousand islands of the Vietnamese representative will take place at 5:00 pm on January 13. The opponent of "Mr. 30" is the Singapore Slingers, one of the three teams that the Heat have not encountered in stage 1.
