JOHOR BAHRU (Malaysia) - DJ Cooper took matters into his own hands to lead Dewa United Banten in ousting Johor, 94-87, in the final game of the BCL Asia-East 2026 Final 6 Group Phase on Thursday night.
The star guard finished with 18 points, 7 rebounds, and 12 assists as he showed more assertiveness offensively, most especially in crunch time to help his side complete the comeback from as much as 12 down.
He knocked down a pair of three-pointers in a personal 8-0 run to turn a three-point deficit to a 92-87 advantage with 59.5 seconds to spare, effectively crushing the Semi-Finals hopes of the hosts all by his lonesome.
Rio Disi would go perfect from the free throw line with 9.7 seconds left for the final count, eventually assuring themselves the no. 1 seed in Group A entering the final four which is scheduled this Saturday, May 23.
The Southern Tigers, on the other hand, bowed out of contention with a 0-2 card, enabling the Chinggis Broncos to advance to the penultimate round as the second-seeded team in the pool with an even 1-1 card.
"We are in a competition where every game matters," offered head coach Agustin Julbe as his charges pulled off the come-from-behind win barely 24 hours after their brutal beatdown of the defending champions.
"Regardless of being in the first position, we wanted to win this game," added the Spanish mentor.
Joshua Ibarra finished with 25 points and 16 rebounds for an efficiency of 31 to lead Dewa United, who are set to face the Taoyuan Pauian Pilots, who finished second in Group B behind South China, in the Semi-Finals.
Troy Gillenwater produced 25 points as well, alongside 7 rebounds. Disi chipped in 10 points as they all played key roles in their big second-half turnaround - highlighted by a 27-point showing in the final period.
"We were just not playing together, in general. We came out after halftime, made some adjustments, started believing that we can win - once we do that, we can win any game we play," offered Ibarra.
Ting Chun Hong, on the other hand, led Johor with 26 points in the stinging defeat that left the home fans that trooped to the Arena Larkin Indoor Stadium stunned.
The star winger himself was having a redemption game after a subpar showing against the Broncos the last time out and even gave his team the 87-84 lead with 2:49 remaining, only for Cooper to steal their thunder.
Cam Clark supplied 24 points and 8 rebounds. Scottie Lewis made 19 points and 7 assists, while Marcus Lee, despite scoring just 3 points, still brought 16 rebounds, 8 assists, 1 steal, and 3 blocks against 4 turnovers.
Johor finished their campaign with a 2-6 record overall.
FIBA