Shenyang - It is the second Day for the 1st Asian University 3x3 Basketball Championship. The weather was as sunny as yesterday, and the passion from the crowd was still as hot as yesterday. Today’s games were even more competitive and intensive than yesterday, as most of the players have got used to the court and the ball. Their full potential were stimulated as well due to the “mad fans”.

One of the highlight of today’s games from Court 1 occurred between the host team, Northeastern University (NEU) against Mon-Altius Institute of Physical Education (MAI). MAI came up very aggressive with several hard penetration and second chance scores. Second chance rebound was the key for MAI to keep the lead as NEU did a poor job in protecting the paint. However, after 5 minutes of the game, NEU showed a sign of counter attack, LIU Zhixuan of NEU started to make a response by some post moves and aggressive defence. His teammates were triggered as well to play with high intensity. With massive support from the home crowd, the aggressiveness of MAI was somehow stalled, NEU took the advantage to close the lead.  However, after a quick time-out called by MAI during the last 2 minutes of the game, MAI was able to keep 1 point lead to finish the game.

In Court 2, Beijing University of Technology (BJUT) had a very physical game with Science University of Iran (SUI). With average height above 1.95m, the “titans” of SUI dominated the paint. Many post moves and penetrations were given by SUI, BJUT seemed a bit helpless in defending SUI’s center whom towering above 2m. However, FENG Shengsen of BJUT used his speed and perfect dribbling skills to break down SUI’s defence to create more open chances for his teammates. The score was always close as both teams played their styles of basketball. Until the end of the game, BJUT was 2 points away from SUI, at the last 3 seconds FENG Shengsen tried a very difficult 3-point shot with aggressive defence in front of him. However, luck was not on BJUT’s side. SUI closed the game with 2 points lead.

Another highlight from Court 1 occurred at the third last game of today which was from the women’s group. Two Chinese universities faced up to have a fierce 10 minutes game. Beijing Normal University (BNU) and Tianjin University of Finance and Economics (TUFE) were both undefeated before this game. It was the time to witness who would break this record. Both teams came up very strong at the beginning of the game. The score went up alternately. BNU had troubles in defending the little guard from TUFE. Many lay-ups were made by TUFE’s guard. At about 3 minutes left of the game, the score was 10-10 tied. Both teams were trying to find a way to take up the lead. One more player from TUFE stepped out to help her guard to share the score. BNU did not have any response to this situation, a 4 points lead was made towards the end of the game. It was a significant win for TUFE as it secured top 1 position in women’s group to proceed to semi-final stage.

Overall, today’s games were very competitive. Players performed with high intensity, skills and determination. The people from the crowd was also energetic, cheering for teams from both sides. The referees had a good control of the game. Even though some games were very close, players tended to have more physical contacts, but they kept very positive attitudes. A good sign of sportsmanship was shown throughout today’s games.   

Competition Results of  Day II

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(Source: AUSF Secretariat)