The Taoyuan Pauian Pilots on Sunday rallied from a 26-point deficit to defeat the Macau Black Bears 104-86, completing the largest comeback in East Asia Super League (EASL) history.
The Pilots erased the deficit on their home court en route to a 44-point turnaround, improving to 3-1 this season.
The Black Bears started strongly, hitting nine of their first 10 shots from beyond the arc to take a 40-17 lead early in the second quarter.
Photo: P.League+ via CNA
They pushed their lead to the biggest of the game at 51-25 on an Omari Peek-Green layup with 6 minutes, 15 seconds remaining before halftime and surged to a 65-45 lead into the break.
However, the Pilots, runners-up in the previous EASL season, showed resilience, outscoring Macau by 19 points in each of the third and fourth quarters to seal the win.
As good as the Black Bears were in the first, they imploded in the third quarter, turning the ball over seven times and shooting 3 of 16 from the floor, including 2 of 9 from three-point range.
The Pilots only had two turnovers in the second half.
Center Alec Brown led all scorers with 27 points, including 13 in the third quarter, and grabbed nine rebounds. Damian Chongqui paced the Black Bears with 25 points and a game-high seven assists.
Pilots head coach Iurgi Caminos praised Macau’s early one-on-one shotmaking and admitted his team was overwhelmed.
He credited the team’s huge comeback to improved defense, pointing to guards Pai Yao-cheng and Kuan Ta-you for limiting Chongqui’s playmaking, as well as Brown and shooting guard Lu Chun-hsiang for delivering key baskets.
Lu, a two-time P.League+ regular season Most Valuable Player seeking his third consecutive title, led all Taiwanese players on the Pilots with 26 points.
With the win, the Pilots lead Group B by half a game over the Meralco Bolts, who are 3-2.
The Pilots are to visit Huaqiao University in China’s Fujian Province on Jan. 4 next year for a rematch against Macau before closing group play against Japan’s Ryukyu Golden Kings in Okinawa, Japan, on Feb. 4.
Macau fell to 0-3, while the Golden Kings are 1-1.
Now in its third season, the EASL is an international 12-team competition independent of domestic leagues and operates as an international league for East Asian basketball teams.
The league features top clubs from Japan (three), South Korea (two), the Philippines, Hong Kong, Macau, Mongolia and Taiwan (three, the top two P.League+ teams and the top Taiwan Professional Basketball League team), competing for a US$1 million championship prize across a 42-game schedule.
The runners-up earn US$500,000, while the third-place team receive US$250,000.
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