人間通訊社

On July 26th, Day 2 of the BLIA Cup University Basketball Tournament elimination games, Vanguard University from Southern California matched up against Japan’s Nagoya Gakuin University. Both teams lost their first matches and were eager for a win.

At the opening of the 1st quarter, Vanguard’s 193 cm tall center, Tania Uluheua, scored the first basket. However, Nagoya’s Miyuki Takimoto scored 6 points with a combination of jump shots and free throws while capitalizing on Vanguard’s turnovers. While Vanguard’s ball control was superior to Nagoya’s, their many turnovers impacted the team’s offense. At the finish of the 1st quarter, Vanguard was behind Nagoya 12-20.

In the 2nd quarter, Nagoya’s head coach, Hideki Takenoshita, changed strategy in order to avoid direct confrontation with the tall Vanguard players by playing the perimeter, resulting in each of Nagoya’s player scoring. While Vanguard had fewer turnovers than in the 1st quarter, their field goal percentage lagged behind Nagoya’s, ending the 1st half with Nagoya leading 43-31.

At the start of the game’s 2nd half, Nagoya continued playing on the perimeter with Vanguard still unable to make progress. The 3rd quarter saw Vanguard on the defense, yet Nagoya still succeeded in pulling ahead with a 21-points lead, finishing the quarter with a score of 62-41.

Vanguard still struggled to score in the 4th quarter until there were only 03:17 minutes left in the game and Tania Uluheua made the first basket. In the final 3 minutes, Nagoya subbed in all of their backup players, closing the game with an 82-54 win. Nagoya won their first game and Vanguard lost two consecutive games.

Nagoya’s Kanako Kimoto scored a game-high 23 points and Vanguard’s guard, Victoria Chea, scored 15 points. While Vanguard made 41 rebounds. which more than doubled Nagoya’s 20, their 32 turnovers compared with Nagoya’s 8 made it difficult for them to win the game.