The Macau Black Bears aim to make it two in a row, as they face the Saigon Heat reeling from it’s first loss of the season. Tipoff is 7:30PM local time in Nanhai Gym in Guangdong, China.
The Black Bears were in fine form once again, taking out the CLS Knights in their first game at home this season. They got tremendous efforts from their two MVPs in Mikh McKinney and Anthony Tucker in the win.
The Black Bears looked like a team determined to right the ship, as they came out with a lot of force and seized the advantage early against the Knights leading to the 117-110 victory. When the duo of Antony Tucker and Mikh McKinney are cooking, there’s not much that the opponent can do. The Heat will have to limit the Black Bears’ three point shooting to have a chance at stopping last year’s Semis entrants.
Last year’s Heritage MVP had another impressive outing, stuffing the statsheet for the Black Bears in the win. Mikh McKinney was impressive all game long with 35 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists,utlizing his shifty scoring attack to score or create for his teammates.
The Heat on the other hand figured in one of the most exciting games of the young season, falling in overtime to the undefeated Formosa Dreamers. It went down the wire, as the Heat had several chances to finish off the Knights, even in regulation. However a missed free throw from Justin Young, as well as a botched defensive stand caused the Heat the game, falling to the Dreamers 86-85 . However it’s a good learning experience for the new look squad, as they’re still off to an impressive start despite the loss.
With Trevon Hughes going down with an injury, Murphy Burnatowski was forced to carrying the scoring load. He responded to the challenge, tallying 39 points while chipping in 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals in the loss.
Justin Young will probably remember the chance he had to dispatch of the Dreamers in regulation. However a split from the free throw line forced the Heat to go into overtime, where the Dreamers overcame them. However it shouldn’t discourage the talented Young for long. He still had a solid game with 7 points, 9 rebounds and 2 assists in the loss. How will he bounce back?
That could be the question for the entire Heat squad. Will they respond with a victory, or will the Black Bears take care of business at home?
