Top of their class

Golden confetti fell inside Hangzhou's Binjiang Gymnasium, as Shanghai Jiao Tong University celebrated an unlikely championship victory on Tuesday.

Three knockout games, three victories against formidable opponents and three dramatic comebacks carried Shanghai to the Asian University Basketball League title. It was the kind of hot-blooded, fairy tale drama that only seems possible in youth sports — or the movies.

After the final buzzer sounded, one of Xu Yang's players told him: "Coach, we fought for it. We finally made our dream come true."

A moment that the Shanghai head coach said reminded him of Slam Dunk, the Japanese basketball anime series he watched as a child.

"I feel extremely proud to have led these students into such a high-level competition," Xu said.

Shanghai's path to the championship was not straightforward. It edged Peking University by two points in the quarterfinals before beating Tsinghua University with an overtime buzzer-beater in the semifinals, overcoming two of China's leading university programs in three days.

Then came the final against defending champion Chengchi University from Taiwan, which had beaten Shanghai twice previously — in their first meeting during last year's tournament, and again in the group stage this year.

In the final, though, trailing by 12 points in the second quarter, Shanghai fought back.

It pulled level in the closing stages and capitalized on late turnovers to seal a 72-69 victory.