The final match of the tournament
Asia League’s Summer Super 8 tournament was concluded Sunday at the Macao East Asian Games Dome. Guangzhou Long-Lions defeated Seoul Samsung Thunders 78-72 in the final to claim the Championship, while ETLand Elephants won 67-62 over NLEX Road Warriors, taking third place.
The two finalists had already met in the group stages with the South Korean team coming out on top at 78-73. Guangzhou dominated early on to take a 13-point lead at 23-10 at the end of first quarter. In the next two quarters, scoring was neck-and-neck, making it hard for the Samsung Thunders to close the gap. Guangzhou led by 12 points at 59-47 at the end of the third quarter. The Samsung Thunders then started to make 3-pointers rain and scored a 11-0 run in the fourth quarter. They continued with this momentum to close in to as little as 3 points behind at 66-69. Under the leadership of Ju Mingxin, the Guangzhou Long-Lions held strong against their opponent’s last stand to claim the Summer Super 8 crown with a final score of 78-72. Ju Mingxin, who scored 25 points in this game, was awarded Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the Championship game.
Asia League is Asia’s elite FIBA-recognized offseason competition platform for club basketball. It aims to raise the standard of basketball in Asia through the creation of high-level basketball tournaments involving teams from Asia’s top leagues.
Summer Super 8 is a new platform for coaches and teams to develop youth talent and strengthen their rosters. The tournament’s primary aim is to establish a regional forum for professionals and players in Asia Pacific basketball to come together and showcase their skills.
The 2018 competition played host to eight of Asia’s top teams — two from China, two from South Korea, two from the Philippines, one from Japan, and one from Taiwan at the East Asian Games Dome between July 17 and 22.
Top basketball will return to Macau in September with “The Terrific 12” tournament, to be held from September 18 to 23 at the Studio City Event Center. Asia League stated in a press release that “the event will see twelve elite club teams from across Asia’s top basketball leagues go head to head on the court.”
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