THE NUMBERS

SJTU 84, Tsinghua 82, OT (21-23, 11-13, 21-21, 21-17, 10-8).

Chen Tiancan finished with 12 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists, the first triple-double in AUBL history. SJTU led for 2 minutes 44 seconds of the 45 played and never by more than 3 points, while Tsinghua led for 35 minutes and by as many as 9. The lead changed hands 27 times and the teams were tied 10 times.

SJTU shot 11 of 23 from 3-point range (47.8%) to Tsinghua's 10 of 32 (31.3%) and made all 9 of their free throws. The game was won by the bench: SJTU's reserves scored 41 points to Tsinghua's 34. Before this game, SJTU's bench was averaging 9.7 a game to Tsinghua's 31.3. Yu Zihan himself had 17 of the 41 on 6-of-7 shooting, 5 of 6 from beyond the arc. Shi Kui had 13 points and 8 assists and went 1 of 9 from 3-point range.

Shanghai Jiao Tong University (上海交通大学)

• Points: 17 — Yu Zihan (于梓涵) · 16 — Jiang Chenxuan (姜宸轩) · 15 — Hu Hui (胡汇) Player of the Game
• Rebounds: 12 — Chen Tiancan (陈天灿)
• Assists: 10 — Chen Tiancan (陈天灿), 12-12-10 triple-double

Tsinghua University (清华大学)

• Points: 13 — Shi Kui (石奎) and Zheng Junhao (郑君豪) · 12 — Xi Taicheng (隰泰诚)
• Rebounds: 7 — Xi Taicheng (隰泰诚) and Xu Xitong (许熙桐)
• Assists: 8 — Shi Kui (石奎)

GAME RECAP

With Yao Ming in the stands, Hu Hui banked in a 3-pointer with 3 seconds left in overtime to give Shanghai Jiao Tong University an 84-82 victory over Tsinghua on Saturday, their first win over THU in program history.

Tsinghua led 82-78 with 54 seconds left in overtime on a Zheng Junhao layup. On the next possession, Xi Taicheng blocked Chen Tiancan's 3-point attempt, but SJTU's Yu Zihan grabbed the board and Chen Tiancan hit the same shot to cut it to 82-81 with 34 seconds to go.

Shi Kui was called for an offensive foul with 15 seconds remaining and the ball went back to Shanghai. With 8 seconds remaining, Chen Tiancan dribbled it off a defender's foot and into Hu Hui's hands, and Hu Hui hits a backboard 3 to win the game.

Tsinghua led for the first 25 minutes and SJTU did not go ahead until late in the third, losing it again almost immediately. Yu Zihan's 3-pointer with 1:18 to play in the 4th put them up 72-71.

Yu Haotian answered with a 3-pointer 14 seconds later, and Jiang Chenxuan scored inside to tie it at 74 with 44 seconds left and force the game into AUBL26's first overtime.

This was SJTU's first win over Tsinghua in program history, having never beaten them in CUBAL or AUBL. A year ago SJTU finished eighth at AUBL25, and this year, after losing their two leading scorers, they defied all odds to reach the AUBL26 Finals.

Yu Zihan scored 17 points off the bench and went 5 for 6 from 3-point range. Jiang Chenxuan added 16 and Hu Hui 15, and with Chen Tiancan's 12 it was the first time four SJTU players reached double figures this tournament. Chen Tiancan finished with AUBL's first triple-double, 12 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists, and assisted on four of SJTU's final six baskets.

Shi Kui, averaging 18.7 points coming in, scored 13 for Tsinghua. Zheng Junhao had 13 and Xi Taicheng 12 with seven rebounds.

SJTU led for 2 minutes 44 seconds of the 45 played. No winning team in AUBL history has led for less.

LOOKING AHEAD

SJTU reach their first AUBL final. Last year, they went 1-3 at AUBL25 and finished eighth, losing the seventh-place game to Peking University 69-67. They will meet NCCU, who beat them 83-71 in the group stage on August 3 and have never lost an AUBL game (8-0). Tsinghua, the AUBL25 runners-up, drop to the third-place game against Waseda.

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