DUBAI (United Arab Emirates) - Utsunomiya put on a shooting masterclass to take down Ulaanbaatar Xac, 93-71, and punch the first ticket to the BCL Asia 2025 Final, Thursday evening at the Coca-Cola Arena.
The Brex made it rain from beyond the arc and swished a total of 19 threes, which is the most by any team in a single game over the last decade of the tournament formerly known as the FIBA Asia Champions Cup.
Coach Zico Coronel's wards were on-point right from the get-go by knocking down seven triples for a fiery 27-8 start into the game, and it would also be their elite marksmanship that eventually sealed the big win.
After a huge lead got cut to just 11, star guard DJ Newbill and Shinji Takashima combined for three consecutive treys to help themselves re-establish full control of the match, 88-68, with 3:24 remaining.
But Makoto Hiejima would be the one to deliver the exclamation point, with the Japan men's national team veteran hitting the record-setting trifecta that gave Utsunomiya the 93-70 lead with 48.6 seconds left.
"It was just pleasing. It really helped us win. They were playing a lot of zone. You're trying to get into your catches but when they collapse, it creates threes," offered Coronel. "Luckily, we shot the ball with confidence."
"We put in the work so that work came through for us today," he added.
Newbill top-scored for the 2024-25 B.League champions with a game-high 35 points on an excellent 7-of-8 clip from rainbow country, a pair of which he sank to help out in their aforementioned start into the game.
The seasoned guard, who also nailed the go-ahead three to beat Tabiat in 2OT in the Quarter-Finals just yesterday, shot 12-of-16 overall and was just an assist shy of a double-double as he racked up 9 dimes.
Finn Delany himself sank a trio of treys and wound up with 16 points, which he laced with 6 rebounds and 3 assists. Takashima chipped in 11 points off the bench as he, too, made three threes in the win.
Noteworthy as well was the way Utsunomiya shared the basketball as they finished with 24 assists as a unit, something their foes could only hope to have emulated as they only 13 themselves.
It was a rough night for one of the tournament's most exciting teams, with the prolific Ian Miller limited to just 9 points on 2-of-13 shooting from the floor after averaging 26.0 points per game entering the Semi-Finals.
Limited by the defense as well was Jordy Tshimanga as the post proficient big man only managed to produce 5 points in the loss that saw the Broncos commit 20 turnovers, which the Brex got 24 points off.
Barsbold Baatar Erdene instead top-scored for Ulaanbaatar Xac with 24 points on 8-of-9 shooting, including 3-for-3 from three. Jordan Tolbert and Binderiya Sandagdorj were the only others in double figures with 10 each.
Now, the Brex will wait for the winner between defending BCL Asia champions Al Riyadi and Shabab Al Ahli in the other Semi-Finals bracket for their opponents in the one-game Final set on June 13.
The losing side of the rematch between last year's BCL Asia finalists will face the Broncos for a spot in the podium in the Third-Place Game, which is scheduled to take place before the championship bout.
FIBA