BANGKOK (Thailand) - Chris Johnson and Michael Efevberha showed the way as New Taipei beat down Adroit Club anew, 80-64, and get back on track in the BCL Asia-East 2025, Monday night at the Nimibutr Stadium.
The former NBA big man finished with 25 points and 7 rebounds, while the 40-year-old swingman came through with 22 as the veterans spearheaded the fourth-quarter surge toward chalking up win no. 3 of the tourney.
The two took turns in putting the Kings up for good, with Johnson sustaining the hot start of Su Pei Kai in the mentioned chapter to finally give themselves their first double-digit lead of the match at 61-50.
Efevberha then made his presence felt afterward when the opposition got to within single digits again, knocking down four straight triples to put the game out of reach, 80-61, with 44 seconds left in the game.
Big thanks to the duo, New Taipei returned to their winning ways after absorbing an 81-68 defeat to Ulaanbaatar Xac last April 30, which foiled their plans of finishing their home stand with a perfect record.
"We had to create our own energy in these situations. We just had a game back in Taiwan the other day, so guys are a little bit tired," said head coach Ryan Marchand. "But later on, we started to find a little bit of a rhythm."
Fatigue did affect the Kings especially early in the match as they found themselves in a nip-and-tuck affair against the very same team which they blew out by 40, 105-65, in their first meeting last April 29.
They even trailed by two possessions at one point but managed to turn the corner come the second chapter, with Johnson joining hands with Lu Cheng-Ju for a mini 7-2 run to end the first half in their favor, 42-37.
New Taipei would keep the lead in the third can with Su Shih-Hsuan and Su helping out on offense, then came the strong finish come the final period as their well-travelled reinforcements formed a solid 1-2 combo.
"Just making sure that we're communicating on the floor, to hold each other accountable with what we're doing wrong and fixing those issues. I think that's what helped turn the energy around," Johnson said.
The Kings improved to 3-1 following the win and will look to conclude their Bangkok trip with another win against home bets Hi-Tech Basketball Club tomorrow, Tuesday, May 6, still at 19:00 local time.
Adroit, on the other hand, absorbed their fourth loss in as many games but they played, without a doubt, their best game of the competition thus far even though they fell just short of ending their winless spell.
Wong Zhong Han led the Singaporean side with 17 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists while Oleksandr Kolchenko tallied a 14-6-3 stat line in the gallant stand, which saw the unit sink a total of 13 threes like their foes.
"I think we played fair today. The result was not as bad as the previous games, but I think, ultimately, what we can take away from this game is how we can bring this culture back to Singapore," said Ng Hanbin.
Adroit will take a one-day break before taking their turn in facing Hi-Tech on Wednesday, May 7, in the final game of the Thailand stop of the BCL Asia-East Group Phase, which is now in its penultimate window.
FIBA