In the first match between the two teams this season, both Hanoi Buffaloes and Ho Chi Minh City Wings entered the match with high form. However, the Ho Chi Minh City representative suffered a personnel loss when Khoa Tran could not return due to injury, and Nicholas Minh-Anh Courtney was only used from the bench.
Right from the first half, Hanoi Buffaloes showed the strength of the defending champion with a close-range defensive style and fast counter-attacks. The capital team continuously effectively exploited long-range shots, in which Lian Ramiro was a prominent face with many accurate 3-point finishes.
A vibrant start helped Hanoi Buffaloes quickly create a gap of 32-13 after the first quarter.
Stepping into the second half, Ho Chi Minh City Wings made efforts to narrow the gap thanks to the brilliance of the foreign duo Dakota Zinser and Dmytro Tykhonov. While Dakota Zinser continuously created breakthroughs in quick counter-attack situations, Dmytro Tykhonov put great pressure under the basket. Ho Chi Minh City representatives narrowed the gap to 38-49 before the break.
After the break, the match continued to be tense. Nicholas Minh-Anh Courtney brought many positive signals to the home team's attack. However, Ho Chi Minh City Wings were at a disadvantage when defender Dinh Quang Duong had to leave the field due to injury in the 3rd half.
On the other side, Lian Ramiro and AJ Bramah continued to maintain stability, helping Hanoi Buffaloes maintain a 65-50 lead before the final quarter.
In the decisive minutes, the away team completely controlled the game. AJ Bramah effectively coordinated with Tam Dinh to create an impressive scoring streak, thereby helping Hanoi Buffaloes widen the gap to more than 30 points.
In the end, the defending champion won convincingly 91-65, thereby extending the winning streak at VBA 2026.
AJ Bramah was voted the best player of the match with 26 points, 17 rebounds and 3 assists. The Hanoi Buffaloes foreign player said that the whole team had many difficulties against the opponent's defense system, but still maintained the game thanks to cohesion and effective ball sharing ability.
In this match, Hanoi Buffaloes continued to show superiority in their ability to organize their play. The capital representative controlled the area near the basket well and maintained a scoring efficiency of 42%, significantly higher than Ho Chi Minh City Wings' level of 32%.
In addition to AJ Bramah, factors such as Lian Ramiro and Tam Dinh also played an important role in the 5th consecutive victory of the team led by coach Matt Van Pelt.
Full VBA 2026 season on FPT Play.
