TBL Round 9: Mad Goat loses to Hitech in the game between Top 4 teams

Wattana Suttisin

What a coincidence that all visitors won their games. Here is the last round review presented by ESL.

The game between Top Four teams took place in Nakorn Phantom. 4th placed host Mad Goat (5-4) was smashed by second ranked Hitech (8-1) 124-63. Hitech dominated down low during the game scoring 80 of its points in the paint compared to Mad Goat's 38 and had 20 for 28 from the free-throw line, while Mad Goat only scored four points from the stripe. Hitech forced 25 Mad Goat turnovers and outrebounded them 55-40 including 41 on the defensive glass. They looked well-organized offensively handing out 40 assists comparing to just 21 passes made by Mad Goat's players. The former international Wattana Suttisin (183-85) stepped up and scored 18 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists for the winners and international Patipan Klahan (201-93) chipped in 20 points and 6 rebounds (on 8-of-9 shooting from the field). Hitech's coach Chris Daleo felt very confident that he used 10 players which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. The best for the losing side was American forward Scott Sill (206-92, college: Delaware St.) with a double-double by scoring 21 points and 18 rebounds. Hitech have an impressive series of five victories in a row. Defending champion maintains second place with 8-1 record behind leader TGE. Mad Goat lost third consecutive game. They dropped to the fifth position with four games lost.
TBL top team - TGE (9-0) managed to deliver another win. This time they beat seventh ranked Thunders (3-6) 93-83. American power forward Rashad Bishop (198-88, college: Cincinnati) nailed 23 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists (on 8-of-10 shooting from the field) for the winning side and Nattapol Kupradit accounted for 23 points. Cameroonian forward Fils Dongmo (201-89) came up with a double-double by scoring 22 points, 26 rebounds and 5 assists for Thunders in the defeat. Thunders' coach rotated ten players in this game, but that didn't help. The victory was the ninth consecutive win for TGE. They maintain first place with 9-0 record. Newly promoted Thunders keep the seventh position with six games lost. They share it with SWU.
Bottom-ranked MUBC (0-9) is still winless. This time they could not use their home court advantage losing their ninth consecutive match to fifth ranked Shoot it Dragon (5-3) 95-79 on Saturday evening. The best player for the winners was Boonchai Rittiphanyawong who scored 18 points and 6 rebounds. At the other side the best for losing team was Witchaya Phithakphawasutthi who recorded 25 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists and 7 steals. Both coaches used bench players and allowed the starting five to rest. Shoot it Dragon moved-up to fourth place. MUBC lost their ninth game in a row. They still close the standings with nine games lost.
The game in supposed to be also worth to mention about. Third ranked Raptors (6-2) played at the court of 8th ranked SWU (3-6). Raptors smashed SWU 117-66. It was a good game for Avery Scharer who led his team to a victory with a double-double by scoring 64 points (!!!), 11 rebounds and 6 assists. The victory was the third consecutive win for Raptors. They maintain third place with 6-2 record having four points less than leader TGE. SWU at the other side dropped to the seventh position with six games lost.

In the last game of round 9 Bangkok Tigers destroyed T-REX on the opponent's court 104-79.
The most impressive stats of the last round was 22 points and 9 rebounds by Ronnakit Pornjirakittipong of MUBC.