At this critical moment, Sannoh's center suddenly exerted force with his right hand, swinging his arm in a small arc like a whip and hurling the ball straight toward his own half.
The basketball streaked through the air in an orange-yellow blur, passing over several players' heads before landing precisely in the hands of Sannoh's point guard, who had long been prepared.
Thus, in this covert contest of wills, Sannoh ultimately seized the initiative.
Influenced by the first-half situation, Hainan immediately adopted a battle-ready stance. The players' gazes tightened, their defensive positioning closed in more than before, and they clearly had no intention of giving Sannoh another opening.
Yet Sannoh's fierce momentum from the first half seemed not to have faded. Even though Hainan was being extremely cautious, they still seemed to be suppressed by Sannoh from the very first minute of the game.
Sannoh remained composed throughout, without any unnecessary flashy moves. Yet every pass and every cut carried unexpected efficiency, as though precisely calculated, steadily pressing against Hainan's defensive line.
With the ball in hand, the point guard did not rush forward. Instead, he stopped outside the three-point line and used varied dribbling rhythms to probe Hainan's defensive center of gravity.
The basketball bounced nimbly at his fingertips, sometimes rapidly switching between his hands with sharp, hurried sounds, sometimes abruptly pausing before a crossover. The Hainan guard opposite him stared fixedly at the ball's path, unconsciously shifting his weight from side to side, afraid of missing even the slightest chance of a drive.
Just as Hainan's defender focused all his attention on the basketball, Sannoh's point guard suddenly exploded off the ground, driving his knees forward and shooting through the gap in Hainan's defense like an arrow released from a bow.
His first step was astonishingly fast. The