Hanoi Buffaloes caused a second earthquake yesterday after earning a slot in the Thailand Super Basketball League’s semi-finals in their tournament’s debut in Bangkok.

Birthday-boy Steven Thomas of Hanoi Buffaloes jumps to score a point during a match against Hitech at the Thailand Super Basketball League yesterday in Bangkok. 

In their first-ever international tournament, the Vietnamese representatives came from behind to knock defending champions Hitech out of the tournament.

On Sunday, they levelled the result by beating the title favourites 101-87 after losing 73-99 in the first match some days earlier.

Yesterday, they also came from behind to win 89-80 in the third and decisive match and pocket a berth in the semi-final.

The Buffaloes started the game slowly as usual and let the hosts, who received strong encouragement from home supporters, lead 18-15 in the first quarter. The second one was much better as they gradually narrowed the result before they went ahead to lead 30-29 until the last minute as Hitech pushed up and grabbed four points to end at 33-30.

It was the same happening in the third quarter, the two sides maintained equal result 51-51, and Hitech made a difference of a two-point gap in the last seconds.

However, the day belonged to the strong Buffaloes with Van Pelt, Steven Thomas and Justin Young showing off their great talent to power in the last quarters and finishing their outstanding game at 89-80.

In the last four round, the Buffaloes will see Mono Thew who they easily grabbed a win from in their last meet on March 4. 

VNS