Chapter Seventy-Eight: Old Rivals, New Faces (Part Two)

With his white hair and tall, upright frame, Turgen stood out in this level of competition. Though his appearance was somewhat unusual, his graceful shooting and lightning-fast dribbling made him exceptionally prominent on the court. Most people are, after all, creatures of sight—easily swayed by what they see and hear. Tastes may shift with the times, but there’s no denying the sheer beauty of Turgen’s style of play. His movements, while not overly flamboyant, were always crisp and fluid, never weighed down by unnecessary flourish. Against the slow, methodical half-court offense of the University of Finance and Economics, he shone like a sudden burst of light.

From the opening tip, the Provincial Youth Team made their style abundantly clear: fast-paced, efficient, and disciplined defense. Every player on the floor understood his task and responsibility; all that was required was to execute their individual roles, nothing more. This time, Wang Lei was not the silent figure from the previous game. He paced the sideline, shouting instructions without restraint, constantly reminding his players to watch their defensive positions. He allowed them to concede outside shots, but under no circumstances were they to let the opponents break into the paint.

The University of Finance and Economics was shell-shocked from the outset. They had never expected that the same team they had previously beaten—albeit in disorganized fashion—would return so fierce and unrelenting. Less than five minutes into the game, they had managed only five points, while their opponents had raced ahead with a commanding fourteen.

As captain, Aierken felt the weight of responsibility pressing down on him. The team's inability to find their rhythm was largely his burden to bear, for he found himself utterly unable to penetrate the interior. The opposition had woven an impenetrable web around the three-second area; any attempt he made to receive the ball under the basket was immediately met with a double-team. The swiftness of the traps left him no time to kick the ball out, so every possession felt like hacking away at a mountain—without explosive force, they simply could not shake the opposing defense.

Wang Lei’s defensive scheme was beautifully simple: the most basic of zone defenses. Whoever received the ball was instantly double-teamed by the two nearest defenders. If the opponent managed to pass out, so be it—his players only needed to hustle back to their assignments. After all, this was not an elite league; their opponents were just a university squad, not even strong enough for the national collegiate finals.

The Provincial Youth Team’s tactics worked to perfection, forcing the University of Finance and Economics to settle for outside shots. But their offense had always centered around attacking the paint; though their perimeter players could shoot, their accuracy plummeted under pressure.

Haowule executed his tasks flawlessly: securing rebounds and sparking the fast break. As soon as the opponents put up a shot, Haowule would box out for the board, then fling the ball downcourt. The Youth Team’s transition game was so blazingly fast that it defied the other team’s expectations—even their tallest player was sprinting from defense to attack at full tilt. They had never faced such a relentless opponent.

If their last encounter had been a case of the Youth Team winning with wild, unrefined energy, today they were like an agile master—every counterattack was efficient and precise. Once their three-man fast break got moving, it was almost impossible to defend, especially since the University of Finance and Economics had never faced such a style. Other teams relied primarily on set offenses; even their fast breaks were rare and haphazard.

Confronted by a team that played so against the grain, the University of Finance and Economics had no time to adjust. Near the end of the first quarter, Wang Lei even substituted Cai Aihong, bringing in the diminutive 1.72-meter guard, Sun Dexun. With Haowule at 1.96 meters as their tallest player, this was the ultimate small-ball lineup.

With Sun Dexun on the court, Turgen was freed from ball-handling duties and began cutting off the ball. From the start, he had showcased such dominant skill that the University of Finance and Economics had focused their defense on him, even double-teaming him as the primary ball-handler. Now, with Turgen running off screens, their defense descended into chaos.

Coach Tuerxun of the University of Finance and Economics was in a foul mood that day, burning through timeouts in the second quarter as his team fell behind by more than twenty points. Such a deficit was not unheard of in collegiate basketball, but for his team, it was unprecedented—even the province's strongest teams had never built such a lead against them before halftime.

Under Wang Lei’s management, the Provincial Youth Team maintained excellent rotations. Thanks to his unique intuition, Wang Lei could sense when a player’s energy was flagging or his rhythm was off, ensuring that the freshest legs were always on the court.

By contrast, Coach Tuerxun had planned to carefully manage his starters' minutes, hoping to avoid fatigue late in the game. But faced with the Youth Team’s relentless assault, he was forced to keep his best players on the floor for longer stretches.

By halftime, the result was all but decided. The Provincial Youth Team racked up a remarkable 54 points—an extremely rare feat in a college game with ten-minute quarters.

Turgen played about 14 minutes in the first half, netting 12 points and dishing out 4 assists. Nearly all his shots came from beyond the arc, where he went 4-for-6.

Cai Aihong, once a marginal figure on the University of Finance and Economics roster, stole the show with a dazzling display of midrange shooting, hitting about half his attempts. This was partly due to the lackluster defense against him, but still, he had clearly found his ideal role—rarely venturing inside, always lurking at the top of the key. If the opposing center stepped out, he would pull him even farther, clearing the lane for teammates; if the defense stayed in, Cai Aihong would catch and shoot without hesitation.

This was, after all, not a high-level contest. The University of Finance and Economics simply lacked the defensive discipline for effective rotations. Even when they managed a switch, Cai Aihong, now facing a much shorter defender, could rely on his well-honed jumper for efficient scoring.

As the game entered the fourth quarter, the Youth Team deliberately rotated their bench, resting their starters and slowing the pace. The University of Finance and Economics seized the opportunity, mounting a decent offensive run to trim the deficit to fourteen.

In the end, with their fans filing out early, the Provincial Youth Team emerged victorious by nine points. Though the margin seemed close, any discerning observer could see the gulf between the two sides—these were simply teams from different worlds.