Evan Gilyard and Kim "clutch" score, Saigon Heat upstream suffocated in 60 seconds

Following the sublimation momentum after the victory on the opening day, Saigon Heat faced an opponent that was evaluated equally and equally as NS Matrix Deers, a representative from Malaysia.

The tension of the match was shown through the first two innings when the two sides were tit-for-tat, but the Malaysian team was slightly better thanks to effective and disciplined play.

Meanwhile, Saigon Heat was somewhat negligent in defense and attack, soon entangled in turnover problems as well as many times of losing contact, allowing the opponent to score easily.

If in the previous match, Saigon Heat accelerated in the 3rd half to go straight to victory, in this match, "Mr 30" decided to break through at the end of the 4th half.

After the 3rd half struggled and tied in points, Heat with the lead of Evan Gilyard closed the gap before taking the lead at the beginning of the 4th quarter (the score 71-70).

This effort soon received cold water from NS Matrix with two consecutive 3-pointers of Wong Yi Hou and Chung Hong Ting, helping the Malaysian representative to rise again.

However, Gilyard and Vo Kim Ban exploded in the last 5 minutes of the third half to help Saigon Heat revive. From the score of 76-71, the Vietnamese team brought the match to an 80-80 balance before Gilyard and Kim Record got 8 points within 60 seconds.

Not to be missed the extremely smooth and equally "clutch" 3-point step-back of Evan, plus a good steal from Jeremy Combs to create conditions for Kim Record to quickly counter-attack.

From the 4th half to about 4 minutes, Saigon Heat ended the match with a series of 14-4 points to win.

Foreigner Evan Gilyard was the most explosive player with 38 points (13-25 FG, 4-11 3PT) in 38 minutes, with 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal. Particularly in the fourth half, the American defender scored 11 points.

Right behind him is Jairus Holder with 14 points. Vo Kim Ban was the third highest scorer for the Heat in this match, pocketing 12 points (2-4 3PT) including an extremely important quick counterattack in the last minute.

A standout statistic in this match was the 3-point throw, the aspect in which Saigon Heat outperformed the opponent. Coach Van Pelt's students successfully threw 12 3-pointers compared to only 6 pitches of NS Matrix.

In addition, the turnover index also helped "Mr 30" slightly better in terms of points, especially in the key moments.NS Matrix got 17 TO all game compared to only 7 of Saigon Heat.

This victory helped Saigon Heat rise to second place in the rankings, with the same record of two wins as the top team Singapore Slingers but lost in the sub-index.

January 5 will be a valuable rest time for teachers and coaches Matt Van Pelt after playing 2 matches in 48 hours. "Mr 30" returned to the field at 5:00 p.m. Friday, January 6.

Saigon Heat's opponent will be Zamboanga Valientes, a club from the Philippines that won on the opening day against Louvre Surabaya (Indonesia).