TAIPEI CITY (Chinese Taipei) - Alec Brown and Will Artino joined hands in the endgame to lead Taoyuan Pauian to an 82-78 escape from the Chinggis Broncos in a rematch of last year's BCL Asia-East Final, Tuesday.
Brown finished with 23 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists while Artino delivered 19 points and 5 rebounds as the towering tandem came through with the buckets that saved the Pilots from a disastrous collapse.
Brown knocked down his fourth and final triple of the night off an Artino swing for the 80-78 lead with 1:13 remaining, which put them ahead for good after the crew squandered a 12-point third-quarter lead.
Artino was at the right place and at the right time moments later, cleaning up Li Chia-Kang's missed floater with 31.0 seconds to spare for the dagger as the opposition could no longer convert on the other end.
"It's always a good feeling to get a team back like that, [after] losing the Final last year against them. Yeah, it felt great," said the 33-year-old Brown. "Hopefully, we can do it again when we see them again in Mongolia."
"And then if we see them again in the Final 6, [hopefully] we'll get them back again there, too," he added.
The defending P. League+ champions have collected their fourth win in as many games following the vengeful victory, in the process maintaining their status as the leaders of what's been a competitive Group B.
The Mongolian representatives, on the other hand, fell to their second loss in a row and dropped to 1-2, marking the first time since the 2024 BCL Asia Qualifiers' opening round that they lost in back-to-back fashion.
But in all fairness to the crew of Coach Ariunbold Erdene, they're in the midst of the 2025-26 The League Final, in which they're leading the Selenge Bodons of DeMarcus Cousins, 3-1, in the best-of-7 affair.
Even with the tough schedule, the Broncos still put up a gallant stand against Taoyuan Pauian behind their locals. Tulga Odgerel scored 15 to power an 18-2 run to turn a 50-62 deficit to a 68-64 lead entering the fourth.
Momentum did shift their way to the point that they led by as many as five early in the final period, and appeared on the way snatching the win when Ian Miller went perfect from the line for a 78-76 lead with 1:55 to go.
However, Binderiya Sandagdorj got assessed with a technical foul, leading to a Brown bonus that cut the gap to a point. And that allowed him to get some rhythm as he knocked down the back-breaking trey shortly after.
And it would be all Pilots since, leaving the opposition a frustrated bunch while they celebrated in front of a partisan crowd that went to the University of Taipei Tianmu Gymnasium to watch live.
Miller led the Broncos with 21 points in the loss, with Odgerel serving as his lone backup with 17 points.
Altangerel missed out on a double-double with 9 points and 13 rebounds, which he laced with 4 assists, 4 steals, and 4 blocks for an efficiency of 29. Ditto with Jordy Tshimanga, who tallied 5 points and 12 rebounds.
The reigning champs will soon head back home to resume their Final, and then prepare to host Group B games as the BCL Asia-East 2026 caravan heads to the MBank Arena in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on May 5-8.
It will be the final leg of the Group Phase, making it all the more crucial for the Broncos and the pool.
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FIBA