JOHOR BAHRU (Malaysia) - Johor showed better poise to escape the erstwhile unbeaten Dewa United Banten, 90-87, for their first win in the BCL Asia-East 2026 at the Arena Larkin Indoor Stadium, Thursday night.
The Southern Tigers actually coughed up an early 19-point lead and even trailed during the fourth quarter, but the crew collectively restored order before outlasting the visitors down the stretch to snap a winless spell.
Chee Wei Lim scored 3 straight to erase the 75-77 deficit, before Aaron Geramipoor, Scottie Lewis, and Ahmed Hill came in to push their lead to 84-79 with 1:24 left for a good enough cushion to ward off their foes late.
Hill himself was responsible in keeping their Indonesian counterparts at bay when they managed to cut the gap to as close as one, 88-87, with 7.6 left as he knocked down the foul shots that became the eventual scoreline.
Sooner, the final buzzer rang and all of Johor would celebrate with the solid home crowd in attendance, as they finally nabbed their first win in the pan-regional league after starting out with back-to-back losses.
Lewis starred in the victory with 30 points and 5 rebounds, and also added 3 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks to submit a full line. Hill tallied a 24-5-5 stat line, while Geramipoor added 17 points and 6 boards.
*This article will be updated.