Saigon Heat ruins Cantho Catfish's return home, regains a sense of victory
Welcoming Saigon Heat at home on July 15, Cantho Catfish marked the first time returning to Can Tho City Multipurpose Power Plant since 2019.
Although VBA still takes place in 2020, 2022 and 2023, for many reasons, the "basa fish" team always has to compete away from home. Nha Trang or the closest is in Hanoi.
After 4 years of waiting, they were finally returned to their old home, competing in the stands filled with cheers of the fans.
However, this emotional return trip was not complete when Cantho Catfish did not enjoy the feeling of victory.
DeAngelo Hamilton and his teammates' effort to come upstream from a 15-point gap was blocked. From a long lead, Catfish closed the gap with a series of points from Huynh Thanh Tam and Brachon Girffin.
But at the decisive moment, Cantho Catfish missed three consecutive scoring opportunities and could not shorten the score anymore. The match ended with the final score 79-72, the victory belonged to the away team.
On the Saigon Heat side, today is an excellent day for Kentrell Barkley, who is leading the race to the MVP title this season.
Heat's foreign soldier scored 37 points with very good performance (14-21 FG, 4-7 3PT, 5-5 FT), with 23 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks. Hassan Thomas has a 10-point double-double, 10 rebounds and 3 assists.
Nguyen Huynh Phu Vinh on the day of returning to his hometown scored 17 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists.
If foreign soldiers lead the scoring list of Saigon Heat, on the Cantho Catfish side, this position belongs to an internal soldier. Le Khac Dang Khoa showed impressive form with 18 points and 4 rebounds with 7-11 FG.
Brachon Griffin had 15 points (6-15 FG) with 6 rebounds and 4 assists. DeAngelo Hamilton scored poorly with only 7 points (3-12 FG), in return he actively assisted with 8 assists and added 13 rebounds, 4 steals.
Cantho Catfish will have 2 short rest days before returning to the field on Tuesday evening (July 18) at Can Tho City Multipurpose Power Plant. Their opponent will be Ho Chi Minh City Wings.
Meanwhile, Saigon Heat will also return to its home ground to welcome Nha Trang Dolphins at 19:30 on Wednesday (July 19). Here, they will welcome an old person back there Madarious Gibbs, an important member who helped "Mr 30" to the championship in 2022.
After 4 years of competing away from home for various reasons, Cantho Catfish finally returned to Can Tho City Multi-Purpose Power Plant, which they have called "home" since 2016.
The last time a VBA match took place at the multi-purpose gymnasium in Can Tho City was in September 2019, Game 5 of the VBA Finals series. Catfish's opponent that day was also Saigon Heat.
For the home team, this is a sad memory to see the opponent lift the trophy on their own field. As for "Mr. 30", this is the anniversary marking the starting point for 3 consecutive VBA championship trophies obtained in 2019, 2020 and 2022 (unorganized in 2021).
