BANGKOK (Thailand) - Ulaanbaatar Xac did it on both ends to survive Hi-Tech Basketball Club, 63-59, and stay perfect in the Basketball Champions League Asia-East (BCL Asia-East) 2025, Sunday at the Nimibutr Stadium.
The Broncos faced a major threat in the endgame when the home team got to within a point after being down by nine, but Ian Miller came through with a badly needed triple to make it a 61-57 lead with 1:11 to go.
Azbayar Altangerel then did his part on the other side of the floor, blocking Mike Singletarys three-point attempt to prevent the reigning Basketball Thai League champions from garnering momentum to come back.
Singletary did manage to find redemption by nailing a bucket inside but that proved to be their last gasp, as Jordy Tshimanga found Altangerel wide open near the rim for the dagger with 19.3 seconds left.
And eventually, Ulaanbaatar Xac heaved a huge sigh of relief - and flashed a wide smile at the same time, as they overcame fatigue on the way to collecting their third win in as many outings to stay atop Group B.
"Our defense has been working," offered head coach Ariunbold Erdene, who steered a team that's coming off a dominant victory against Adroit Club barely 24 hours ago. "This is the result of our defense."
Miller top-scored for the reigning The League champions with 15 points, spiked by a pair of shots from beyond the arc. Altangerel filled up the stat sheet with 11 points, 6 rebounds, a steal, and a block in 23 minutes,
Tshimanga came through with 11 points as well alongside 9 rebounds and 3 assists. Barsbold Baatar Erdene also flirted with a double-double as he tallied 10 points and 8 rebounds, which he laced with 5 steals.
Following a successful Bangkok stop, the Broncos are now looking forward to defending home turf as the fifth and final window of the BCL Asia-East Group Phase is set at the UG Arena in the Mongolian capital.
"Now we play three games at home," offered the 20-year-old Erdene, who earned Player of the Game honors. "Of course, we played a very hard game today. And so, we need to try more on defense and offense."
Put to naught by the loss, on the other hand, was the efforts of young big man Emmanuel Ejesu, who finished with 19 points and 9 rebounds with 2 blocks as he led Hi-Tech's fightback attempt down the stretch.
Singletary provided 16 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists while Freddie Lish chipped in 11 markers as they couldn't sustain their fine play from beating Adroit last Friday, dropping to 1-2 in the standings.
Hi-Tech will take a day off before figuring in back-to-back assignments, first against the New Taipei Kings on Tuesday and then Adroit again the next night in a pair of rematches to wrap up their home stand.
FIBA