[Tilu News]The Hong Kong Golden Bulls returned to Southorn Stadium in Wan Chai on Thursday night (19th) to play in Game 3 of the 2024 National Men’s Basketball League (NBL) playoffs finals against regular season leader Anhui Wenyi. The home team fell behind by 22 points in the middle of the game, but the generals did not give up under the cheers of the fans at the scene. In the fourth quarter, the three armies fought a 20:1 offensive, beating the away team 84:75 and leading the game by 2. :1.
Director of Leisure and Cultural Services Mr Lau Ming-kwong, JP (middle), Chairman of the Hong Kong Basketball Association of China Chan Sui-tian (left) and Hong Kong Golden Bulls leader Qian Tao took a group photo before the game.
All tickets for this game were sold out and the venue was packed. Fans in the audience kept shouting “Let’s go Bulls” to cheer for the Hong Kong Golden Bulls, and the atmosphere was extremely heated. The Hong Kong Golden Bulls invited the Director of Leisure and Cultural Services, Mr. Lau Ming-kwong, JP, and the Chairman of the Hong Kong Basketball Association, Mr. Chan Swee-Tim, to attend the game. Director Lau Ming-kwong presided over the kick-off ceremony.
Mr Lau Ming-kwong, JP, Director of Leisure and Cultural Services, officiated at the kick-off ceremony.
The Hong Kong Golden Bulls beat their opponents by 23 points in their last visit to Anhui, successfully tied the game to 1:1 and regained the home court advantage in the series. Despite this, the Golden Bulls, who have been in the team for two seasons, have actually never defeated Anhui Wenyi in Southorn, and they have all failed in the past three games. Coach Xie Libin, who is striving to lead the team to break through the “curse”, will continue to use the main lineup that won the game, with Ronald. Ronald March, Yu Bolin, Dominic. Dominique Jones, Sun Chenran and Liu Chuanxing serve as starters.
Jones (No. 55) felt average in the first half, but had a big explosion in the final quarter.
Anhui Wenyi turned away from home in the first half. The players felt like they were on fire and frequently scored from three-pointers. On the contrary, the Hong Kong Golden Bulls, who were missing their main forward Zhu Songwei for the second consecutive game, entered the game slowly. They made careless mistakes from time to time, and their shooting percentage was average. They fell behind 36:48 at halftime.
After changing sides, Anhui Wenyi immediately launched a 10:0 offensive, stretching the score to 20 points. Although they fell behind by a large margin, the Hong Kong Golden Bulls players did not give up. They chased one point after another and responded with a 14:2 offensive. They successfully closed the point difference to single digits before the end of the third quarter, trailing 60:68.
Entering the final quarter, the Hong Kong Golden Bulls strengthened their defense and allowed ace Jones to focus on the offense. Although Jones felt cold in the first three quarters, he stepped forward in time at the critical moment and successfully dominated the fourth quarter. Jones continued to enter the color zone to make personal breakthroughs, and went out to blast long-range cannons from outside the three-point line. An MVP-style personal performance, scoring 13 points alone, plus Liu Chuanxing’s long-range throws, Lu Duwei’s fast break And 1 and Dong Jian’s With fast break baskets, the Hong Kong Golden Bulls launched a 20:1 offensive and overtook 80:69. As a result, the Hong Kong Golden Bulls fought back with this offensive, and finally defeated Anhui Wenyi 84:75, also leading by 2:1 in the number of games.
Ma Qi of the Hong Kong Golden Bulls scored a team-high 20 points in this game and was one of the important contributors to the team’s comeback victory.
Liu Chuanxing of the Hong Kong Golden Bulls performed well in this game, doing a good job both offensively and defensively.
Three Hong Kong Golden Bulls players scored in double figures in this game. March scored a team-high 20 points, Liu Chuanxing scored 14 points, and Jones, who performed brilliantly in the fourth quarter, also scored 19 points.
Hong Kong Golden Bulls coach Xie Libin said after the game: “This game is very difficult. After playing two away games and returning to the home court, the players heard so many cheers and cheers, and everyone was a little nervous. However, I am very grateful to the Hong Kong fans. By cheering and not giving up, we had a chance to fight back in the fourth quarter. Thanks to the team, we played very unitedly and were able to adjust in the fourth quarter. This reminded us to relax our mentality, whether it was at home or away. Bring out what you are best at.”
This game was a full house, and Taurus coach Xie Libin also pointed out that the support of the home fans was one of the important factors in the team’s comeback victory.
The NBL finals adopt a 7-game 4-win format, with the Hong Kong Golden Bulls temporarily leading 2:1. After a short break, the two teams will return to Southorn for a Game 4 match on Saturday (21st) night. All tickets on the day of the match have been sold out.
Source: Provided by PR
This article was published bySportsroad“Originally published in”NBL｜The Golden Bulls showed Hong Kong’s indomitable spirit and overcame a 22-point deficit to defeat Anhui Wenyi at home」
