The tournament has only the top eight teams from the National University Games and is hosted by Mahidol University Salaya campus this year. The aim is to revive the teams' rivalry and at stake is the prestigious HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn trophy and money prize of Bt140,000.

The special guest of honour at the opening ceremony was Siam University Dean Pornchai Mongkholwanich and the ceremony was held in front of load of fans before the first game was played between hosts Siam University and Rattana Bundit University.

The visiting Rattana Bundit University opened with aggressive attacks and scored three-pointers to lead 18-7 in the first quarter.

Then Rattana Bundit missed a good opportunity to move away as the hosts Siam University committed many fouls, but the visitors missed their free throws. Rattana Bundit remained in form and ended the second quarter with a 34-17 lead.

In the third quarter, the hosts had to change their tactics as they tried to score behind the three-pointer line because of the visitors' tight defence. The hosts' efforts paid off as they closed the gap to 57-36.

Rattana Bundit University, which played under no pressure, were comfortable throughout the final quarter, while the hosts struggled to get past a strong defence before Atthaporn Lertmalaiporn of Rattana Bundit pulled off an impressive slam dunk to help his team grab an away victory in Group B.

Today Bangkok University will visit Srinakarinwirot University for their Group B match, while hot favourites Thammasat University will host their first match against Dhurakij Pundit University in Group A.

Meanwhile in Kunshan, China, NBA All Star centre Yao Ming scored the winning points with just 2.7 seconds left yesterday as China squeaked past Australia 63-61 in a warm-up event for the World Basketball Championships.

Yao's hook shot in the lane sealed the narrowest of victories for China, their first win in three attempts in the six-team Stankovic Cup tournament.

Somporn Suphop

The Nation