We Are the Champions
Aug 09-2022
History was made on August 5th when the NSD men’s basketball team held up the championship trophy in the 9th Beijing MBA Basketball League. The coronation followed the feat of NSD women’s team who became the runner-up on August 1st.
The men’s event was heatedly competed by 14 teams in a total of 58 games, and the women’s one, eight teams. All squads must mainly comprise of students still in MBA studies, though a small number of alumni was allowed. Both teams of the NSD practiced hard in pandemic-restricted conditions as every player also stretched to balance family, work, and study.
In the group stage, the NSD men’s team hanged on to beat by just one point the extremely competitive and tenacious team of the Central University of Finance and Economics, paving the way for more favorable matchups in the following rounds. But no victory was ever set in stone as one tough fight after another was needed for the team to emerge from elimination rounds.
In the final showdown, the NSD men’s team trailed in the first half. Shang Ping, coach-cum-player, crafted new strategies which were perfectly executed on the court in the second half as inside-out plays opened up spaces for baskets. In the final quarter, the team didn’t even allow their opponents any rebounds and, despite ferocious come-back efforts on the other side, pulled off a 41-35 victory as the final buzzer sounded. Shang Ping was voted MVP of the competition.
The women’s contest was founded only two years ago, thanks to NSD’s women players who had petitioned the organizers to make it an independent event and not just an auxiliary of the men’s edition. Champions in the first event, the NSD team took home the second place this year with pride and delight knowing that the game had caught on among female MBA students.
