The Saigon Heat proved to be too much to handle for the Mono Vampire Basketball Club as they marched to their seventh win of the season with a decisive 101-82 victory, Sunday at the CIS Arena in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Trevon Hughes top-scored for Saigon with 23 points and nearly had a triple-double with 12 rebounds and eight assists. Kyle Barone also had a big game with 21-point, 18-rebound outing. Aside from the World Imports, the Heat got a huge boost from the locals as Chris Dierker contributed 18 points and 11 rebounds and Tanh Sang Dinh came off the bench and provided 18 points and seven boards.
The Heat came into the ballgame with an average output of 84.8 points but blew past that thanks to scoring barrages in the second and third periods. They scored a combined 58 points in the middle quarters alone and established an 81-58 lead heading into the final frame capped off by a triple from Dinh. By then, Mono Vampire was left searching for answers. The Heat were in control for the rest of the way and were never threatened in the fourth quarter.
Malcolm White did all he could with 31 points on 61 percent shooting, as well as 13 rebounds for Mono Vampire. Jason Brickman was the other bright spot with 20 points, five rebounds, and five assists. Unfortunately, Mono lacked the firepower to keep up with Saigon. Michael Singletary only had 11 points on 4-for-16 shooting and Moses Morgan was able to cough up just five points on a woeful 1-for-10 shooting clip.
The Heat shot the lights out from deep with 14 made triples. They also owned the rebounding battle with a 61-45 edge. On the defensive end, they held their opponent to 39 percent shooting, including 5-for-21 from beyond the arc.
The Heat are now 7-4 for the season and aim for another win when they play Hong Kong Eastern on January 13. Mono Vampire meanwhile drop to 1-7 and will face the CLS Knights on January 9.