KUALA LUMPUR: Ting Chun Hong struck a blow for local talent when he scored 13 points as the Malaysia Dragons downed import-laden Saigon Heat 91-87 in an Asean Basketball League match at the Maba Stadium on Wednesday.
Marcus Marshall led the Dragons, who registered back-to-back wins to improve to 3-4, with 25 points as there was no love lost between the two teams when they nearly came to blows after the final buzzer.
AJ West and Joshua Munzon each had double-doubles with the former scoring 19 points and grabbing 16 rebounds while the latter had 18 and 10.
Jamaican Akeem Scott led the Heat, who had the services of seven players born outside Vietnam, wih 44 points.
Chun Hong's back-to-back three-pointers on three-of-four shooting sparked a Dragons rally from an early 3-10 deficit to end the first quarter 21-16 ahead as Marshall and Ivan Yeo also drained shots from distance.
Another three-point effort by Chun Hong pushed the Dragons' lead to 12 points, their biggest of the half, before entering the half-time break with a 50-40 advantage.
West, scoreless in the first quarter, got in on the act with seven points in the second period while Scott made eight of 12 shots for 21 points in the first half to keep Saigon within range.
After being given an expletive-riddled rollicking by coach Kyle Julius during a time-out, Saigon responded by wiping out the Dragons lead to inch ahead 60-59.
Saigon soon extended their lead to 65-59 on the back of an 8-0 run as the Dragons lost momentum but Marshall scored the last five points of the quarter, capped by a three-point shot, to have the hosts end the period with a 69-66 lead.
West scored the Dragons' first six points of the last quarter as they streaked to an 11-point lead but Saigon got to within four of the lead and when David Arnold's three-point attempt failed to go in with seconds left, the game was won.