ULAANBAATAR (Mongolia) - South China Athletic leaned on Glen Yang to keep their BCL Asia-East 2026 Final 6 hopes alive following an 86-84 come-from-behind win over the Chinggis Broncos on Tuesday night.
The seasoned playmaker scored 11 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter, none bigger than the 5 he made in successive fashion which put them ahead for good after being down by as many as 17 points early.
With his side staring at a four-point deficit, he first knocked down a three-pointer, and then followed it up with a pull-up jumper under duress to give themselves the 85-84 lead with only 34 seconds remaining.
Yang would also pull off a big stop with 5.5 seconds to spare by forcing counterpart Barsbold Baatar Erdene to a turnover, and Nigel Nixon would go on to settle the final count with a split from the free throw line.
South China then leaned on defense to prevent Ian Miller and the home team from getting a proper look at the basket as time expired, leaving the Mongolian crowd that filled the MBank Arena stunned in disbelief.
But the HKA1 outfit was a picture of jubilation on their side of the floor as they remained in contention for the pan-regional competition's culminating event after winning a road game for the first time in the tourney.
Now, they just need to wait for the results of the other games this week to determine whether or not they'll be making it to the Final 6 - the Broncos are still set to face Taoyuan Pauian and New Taipei, in that order.
"In basketball, it happens. You can be down by 17 or 20, but you just don't give up," Coach Lo Yi Ting said. "You just keep playing. If you give up early, the game's finished. We did a good job on defense and not giving up."
Kyvon Davenport top-scored for South China with 27 points, which he laced with 14 rebounds and 5 assists on the way to earning Player of the Game honors as he finished with an efficiency of 34 to lead all players.
Young star Kelvin Tsang supplied 14 points and 5 assists. Nixon made 12 points in his BCL Asia-East debut while Rodrigue Andela came through with a personal double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
"It feels amazing. I think we're still in the race, it depends on the other games. But we're still alive," Yang exhaled. "It's a big win. To win on the road is never easy, especially here ... we're just gonna keep working."
Jordy Tshimanga, on the other hand, finished with 18 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Broncos, whose collapse led to their third consecutive defeat and dropped them to the bottom of Group B with a 1-3 card.
"Turnovers punished us," lamented Coach Ariunbold Erdene, as they committed a total of 16 - including the aforementioned one off a Yang strip as it helped the visitors complete the furious comeback.
Ian Miller had 14 points while Baatar Erdene and Azbayar Altangerel added 13 points apiece in the loss, which has left the defending champions with no choice but to win their two remaining games to stay in the running.
FIBA