JOHOR BAHRU (Malaysia) - Chinggis Broncos weathered Johor's late-game surge before leaving with the 97-93 decision in their BCL Asia-East 2026 Final 6 opener, Tuesday night at the Arena Larkin Indoor Stadium.
The defending champions appeared to have sailed away for good when they built a 94-80 lead with 2:33 left, but the waters became rough as the Southern Tigers, buoyed by the home crowd in attendance, charged back.
With Scottie Lewis leading the way, the MBL outfit roared to an 11-0 rally to cut the deficit to just three, 94-91, with 46.5 seconds to spare, giving themselves a legitimate chance of pulling off the massive upset.
However, some minor lapses killed their hopes, particularly on defense when they fell a step slow and enabled Jordy Tshimanga to find Azbayar Altangerel for a short stab to push the gap to five with 27.3 ticks to go.
We did it last year, but we have to know that we have the target on the back this year, and everybody's gonna give us a championship game every night.
It didn't help that Lewis' attempt from deep missed, and Temuulen Chinges would go on to widen the gap to 97-91 with a split with 17.8 seconds left, practically shutting the door close for the hosts and their comeback bid.
"We are still learning ... We need to work on it, especially the last quarter," offered head coach Ariunbold Erdene. "This season, in most of the games, we cannot finish very well. We need to learn a lot of things."
Thanks to the locals that came through in the clutch, Ian Miller's season-high showing was preserved. The reigning MVP poured 32 points on 58-percent shooting from the field, including an 8-of-14 clip from deep.
The star guard scored 15 of his points in the fourth quarter alone, which saw him nail half of his three-pointers - including a rare four-point play completion that pushed their lead to 86-75 with 3:40 to go.
Stedmon Lemon would push their lead to 14 before the opposing team's rally and went on to finish with 24 points, spiked by a pair of triples, together with 4 assists and 3 rebounds in the 36 minutes he played.
Tushig Elbeg supplied 12 points off the bench, while Tshimanga came through with a double-double performance after registering 11 points and 16 rebounds, which he laced with 3 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks.
"We had around two weeks with no games, so tonight was like a preparation for the rest of the week. Just happy that we got through tonight with a win. This is the start of what we are here to do," said Miller.
"We did it last year, but we have to know that we have the target on the back this year, and everybody's gonna give us a championship game every night. We have to learn to adapt to that for 40 minutes," he added.
Lewis, on the other hand, led Johor's gallant stand with a game-high 36 points.
Marcus Lee fell just short of a rare 20-20 with 19 points and 20 rebounds, alongside 5 assists and 5 steals. New guy Cam Clark made 17 in his debut, as the troika carried much of the load offensively in the loss.
Both teams will take turns facing Dewa United Banten after tonight. The Broncos will face them first tomorrow night, and then the Southern Tigers on Thursday in another meeting between the South East clubs.
For the full Final 6 schedule, click here.
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