Day 2: Justin Brownlee, Pelita Jaya join Hong Kong Eastern in Second Round of Qualifiers

ULAANBAATAR (Mongolia) - Justin Brownlee starred as Pelita Jaya Basketball took down the Ulaanbaatar Xac Broncos, 89-83, to punch their ticket to the Basketball Champions League (BCL) Asia Qualifiers' Second Round, Thursday night at a packed UG Arena.

 

The veteran internationalist finished with 26 points, 12 rebounds, and 6 assists as he steered the Indonesian Basketball League (IBL) outfit's strong finish on their way to joining Hong Kong Eastern Basketball Team in the next phase of the qualifying stage later this April in Jakarta.

 

Brownlee scored 11 of his points in the final chapter, wherein he scored and assisted in a 10-2 run toward a 73-67 lead with 7:42 to go as they remained ahead all the way.

"When the time comes, just to refocus. We know there's gonna be some more tough teams out there. We just want to continue to get better each and every day. You never know where it may take us; hopefully it takes us far in this tournament," said Brownlee.

Andakara Prastawa supplied 17 points. Brandon Jawato and JaQuori McLaughlin produced 17 points apiece, as the troika helped Brownlee and Pelita Jaya repel the hometown bets on their way to clinching the top seed of Group B with an immaculate 2-0 record.

Tommy Bilguun, meanwhile, had 16 points, 5 rebounds, and 8 assists to lead the Broncos, which fell to 1-1 following the loss. Divine Myles and Justin Moss added 12 each.

Hong Kong Eastern earn first ticket to JKT

Also finishing as the no. 1 team in Group A are Hong Kong Eastern, who became the first to reach the Qualifiers' Second Round thanks to the assist by NS Matrix following the Malaysian ball club's 98-84 conquest of Bishrelt Metal in the third game of the day.

Eastern had already taken the lead in the pool following their 79-74 win over Prawira Harum Bandung earlier in the day, where Dominic Gilbert led the way with 25 points and 7 rebounds as he helped repel their foes' rally from a 12-point deficit with 6:15 left in the fourth quarter.

 

Isaiah Eisendorf and Marco Leung finished with 13 points apiece, with the former adding 11 rebounds to his line as the two scored 26 of the team's 33 bench points.

Chris McLaughlin tallied a full line of 10 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks in 30 minutes of play on the way to netting a game-high efficiency of 23.

"We were able to watch the game tape on these guys yesterday, and we knew they're gonna come in with a lot of energy and a lot of fight. So we knew we had to match that energy and fight back, and let them know how Hong Kong plays," said McLaughlin post-game.

 

Deers run over Bishrelt Metal

However, Hong Kong Eastern wouldn't formally clinch the top spot until the Deers' victory over the Mongolian side, who are now out of contention as they dropped to 0-2.

Jordan Tolbert led NS Matrix with 22 points and 11 rebounds as he helped out in the pullaway late in the first quarter to seize control of the game, eventually tying Prawira in the group standings as the Southeast Asian teams now tote similar 1-1 records.

 

Damion Rosser had 18 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists. Ting Chun Hong flirted with a triple-double as he finished with 12 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists. Taishaun Johnson added 11.

Bishrelt Metal were led by the 20 points and 8 rebounds of Jeantal Cylla. Christopher Blake and Uuganbayar Tumenbayar had 16 apiece while Sukhbat Batzorig made 15.

 

Big second quarter propels Hi-Tech past Adroit

Hi-Tech Basketball Club broke a sweat in keeping Adroit Club listless by way of a 121-70 beatdown to capture their first win of the tournament in the Day 2 opener.

 

The Thai crew poured 27 points while limiting their foes to just nine in the second period for a commanding 54-27 lead at the half, and the game would never be in question as they went on to bounce back after losing to Pelita Jaya in Day 1 of the competitions.

 

Kevin Allen showed the way with 29 points and 12 rebounds for an efficiency of 39. Marcus Elliott produced all-around numbers of 23 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals.

Nattakam Muangboon shot 4-of-6 from deep and finished with 14 points. Moses Morgan gave a stat line of 12-7-6. Freddie Lish supplied 11 points while Chanatip Jakrawan added 10 points and 4 rebounds for Hi-Tech, who improved to 1-1 in Group B.

"It was more of a work-out for us to get better," Lish said. "Because we were playing kinda sluggish in the first game, so we were trying to build more chemistry."

Donald Kelly, meanwhile, had 24 points and 8 rebounds to lead the Singaporean side, who dropped to 0-2 following the loss. Lok Yao Tor added 14 points.

 

Top stats of the day:

Points - 29 (Kevin Allen, Hi-Tech Basketball Club; Brandone Francis, Prawira Harum Bandung)
Rebounds - 12 (Kevin Allen, Hi-Tech Basketball Club; Justin Brownlee, Pelita Jaya Basketball)
Assists - 8 (Ting Chun Hong, NS Matrix Deers; Tommy Bilguun, Ulaanbaatar Xac Broncos)
Steals - 3 (Multiple players)
Blocks - 3 (Taishaun Johnson, NS Matrix Deers)
Efficiency - 39 (Kevin Allen, Hi-Tech Basketball Club)

Top highlight of the day: