Justin Brownlee and Pelita Jaya secured their spot in the Basketball Champions League Asia (BCL Asia) after beating Prawira Harum Bandung, 88-67, Wednesday night at the BritAma Arena in Jakarta, Indonesia.
The naturalized Filipino contributed 10 points, six rebounds, three assists, and a steal in the blowout that made the Indonesian Basketball League (IBL) outfit the first team from the Qualifiers to reach the tournament proper.
He hardly needed to produce much as the crew relied on a collective effort in tearing apart the team that beat them in last season’s IBL Finals.
JaQuori McLaughlin top-scored for Pelita Jaya once again with a game-high 24 points, spiked by three triples, four rebounds, three assists, and four steals.
KJ McDaniels delivered a solid double-double of 15 points and 17 rebounds, together with a pair of dimes plus a steal and a block each.
The locals did their part, too, with Reza Guntara supplying 13 points. Brandon Jawato chipped in 10 markers and five boards in the conquest.
Brandone Francis, on the other hand, finished with 16 points on 17 attempts and seven rebounds to lead Prawira, who fell to 1-1 following the blowout loss that saw the crew trail by as many as 23 points during the third.
With Pelita Jaya assured, three teams are now in a tight race for the second and last BCL Asia ticket — Prawira, NS Matrix, and Hong Kong Eastern.
The two best teams in the second round will join the champion teams from Japan (B.League), Korea (KBL, China (CBA League), the Philippines (PBA), and two FIBA West Asia Super League clubs in the tournament proper.
