TANGERANG (Indonesia) - Dewa United Banten turned in a BCL Asia-East debut to remember by way of a 99-77 victory over Hi-Tech Basketball Club to open the 2026 competitions, Friday at the Dewa United Arena.
The Indonesian Basketball League champions actually got off to a tepid start but turned it around late in the second chapter, and then broke away wide in the fourth to upend their more experienced foes.
With this, Coach Agustin Juibe & Co. have gained the head start in Group A as they spoiled their Basketball Thai League counterparts' plan to win a BCL Asia qualifying tournament opener for the first time.
"We didn't control the pace to start the game. But after that, we found different options, and played better, especially in terms of the relationship between the imports and the locals," said deputy Ramiro Cuello.
Troy Gillenwater starred in the victory with 31 points for the same amount of efficiency as he also collected 9 rebounds. Rio Disi impressed as well with 18 points behind a 4-of-9 clip from beyond the arc.
It was this same tandem that sparked the turnaround, with Disi and Gillenwater knocking down a bucket from close range each to trigger a 12-3 run to flip a five-point deficit to a 41-37 lead entering the break.
Dio Saputra and Gillenwater then nailed a triple each to open the third to push their lead to 47-37, and they'd remain ahead all the way although it wasn't until the fourth where the game would be out of reach.
With veteran internationalist Arki Wisnu helping out, they'd inflate their lead to 20 points for the first time, 86-66, with 4:15 remaining, thus signaling a celebration among the appreciative home fans that filled the venue
Joshua Ibarra finished with a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds. Saputra produced 12 points and 6 rebounds while DJ Cooper, despite scoring just 4, made a massive impact with his 19 assists.
"We improved our defense," said Ramiro, "and I think after that, we took control of the game."
Dewa United will have the luxury of respite before taking on the Johor Southern Tigers of Malaysia on Sunday, March 29, at 19:00 local time to cap off the Tangerang window of the pan-regional meet's newest edition.
Eric Freeman led Hi-Tech with 20 points. Accheaus Fields supplied 16 points while Chanatip Jakrawan added 11 points and 12 rebounds in the loss, where they wasted a strong start in which they lost a 29-17 lead.
The visiting side, though, won't have much time to dwell on the defeat, eyeing for a quick turnaround instead as they're scheduled to get first crack on the Southern Tigers tomorrow night, Saturday, at 19:00 as well.
FIBA