Coming off a loss to Thailand yesterday, Vietnam barged into the win column with ease as they comfortably handled Myanmar, 77-44, in the 2017 SEABA Championship for Men, Sunday evening at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
Vietnam now improves to 1-1 in the team standings, while Myanmar dropped to 0-2, similar to Malaysia and Singapore.
Vietnamese sports icon and Olympian Nguyen Van Hung led all scorers with a notable outing of 22 points on 61 percent shooting to go with 15 rebounds. Tran Vu Linh backed him up with 18 markers.
The Vietnamese took advantage of the much smaller Burmese, starting with a 24-7 scoring spree to conclude the opening frame. From there, Vietnam never looked back and kept their hold of the lead until the final buzzer.
But through Wana Aung leading, Myanmar were able to close within 17, 52-35, early in the payoff period, but could not get any closer as the troika of Tran, Dang Thai Hung, and Van Hung combined to keep the Burmese at bay.
Le Phuoc Thang posted a double-double of his own with 11 points and 10 rebounds, while Dang chipped in 10 markers and 10 boards. The Vietnamese grabbed a total of 53 rebounds.
Myanmar was led by Wana with 21 points, an output filled with highlight-worthy antics — highlighted by two booming treys and reverse lay-ups — that made him a quick fan favorite at the Big Dome.
Vietnam shot 59 percent from the field, and they dished out a total of 22 assists. However, they made 36 turnovers, which was turned by Myanmar to 20 points. Moreover, Vietnam only went 1-of-5 from three-point distance.
Both squads will resume play tomorrow, Monday, May 15. Myanmar will play first and will face Thailand at 3:00 PM, while Vietnam will play Indonesia Monday 7:00 PM.
The Scores:
Vietnam (77) – Nguyen V 22, Tran 18, Le P 11, Dang 10, Trieu 8, Nguyen H 6, Nguyen T 2, To 0, Le N 0.
Myanmar (44) – Wana 21, Thein H 8, Sei 4, Thant 4, Kaung 2, Aung P 2, Sai 2, Tin 1, Aung M 0, Zaya 0, Wai 0, Thein T 0.
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Quarterscores: 24-7, 40-18, 50-33, 77-44.
