Humphery Gabriel had 23 points and 11 rebounds, and Vanung University held off a strong challenge in a 62-59 victory over the from Pingtung on Saturday (May 9) Evening.
Gaby got his 2nd double-double back to back 33 games following his return from Injury but it was sweeter as the Nigeria hit 23 points in a near scary encounter against High flying Pingtung in their opening game of round two coming from a 20 points first half Deficit.
Vanung University endured a good start and were 10 points ahead in the first Quarter before Coach Ben Sim opted to rest his Lucky Charm probably to protect him from exhaustion or injury. That move proved to back fire as Pingtung took advantage and not only closed the gap but took the lead by 20 points going into the break.
Gaby and Vanung Returned in the second half charged and took the game to the hosts who lacked the home support as games are played in closed doors due to the COVID 19 Pandemic. ” We knew this would be one of the toughest team in the series but we didnt expect it to be this, we just lost the lead fast” Humphery Gabriel Said moments after the match.
Vanung, which has the league’s best record in the first half, slumped out of the gate. The Lions crept back and were 6 points down in the 3rd Quarter as Humphery converted a three-point play to make it 41- 47 in favour of Pingtung.
Pintung held on to their lead despite a 15-6 run capped off by Gaby’s Perimeter shot to reduce the lead to 1 point game with 3.06 remaining.
Pingtung responded with five straight points to hold on to the one point lead but Humphery’s driving layup and Yuyang’s 3 snuffed out the rally.
Vanung mounted one last challenge in the closing minute as Jinwei hit the first of two free throws to make it 57-59 with 46.2 seconds left. Vanung’s late surge then saw them extend the lead by 3 points to win 62-59.
The Lions host Jingyi on Sunday 17:00 local time looking to continue their unbeaten run in the UBA series.
