Red Boosters smooth over KBL slump with second EASL win

The Anyang Jung Kwan Jang Red Boosters bounced back from their recent slump with a 106-97 victory over TNT Tropang Giga of the Philippines in the East Asia Super League (EASL) on Wednesday, recording their second straight win in the tournament.

Anyang Jung Kwan Jang Red Boosters' Jeong Hyo-geun, left, dribbles the ball during an East Asia Super League game against TNT Tropang Giga at Anyang Gymnasium in Anyang, Gyeonggi in a photo shared on the Red Boosters' official Instagram account on Wednesday. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

The Anyang Jung Kwan Jang Red Boosters bounced back from their recent slump with a 106-97 victory over TNT Tropang Giga of the Philippines in the East Asia Super League (EASL) on Wednesday, recording their second straight win in the tournament.

The inaugural EASL champions Red Boosters went into Wednesday’s game at Anyang Gymnasium in Anyang, Gyeonggi with a five-game losing streak in the KBL, but the Red Boosters displayed a solid attack on the court.

The Anyang side recorded six 3-pointers during the first quarter to make the score 32-26 and kept their lead through the end of the second quarter at 58-44.

Tropang Giga narrowed the gap to make it 69-63 at one point during the third quarter, but the Red Boosters denied them a comeback to end the quarter 80-67. They rode that momentum through the last quarter to end the game at 106-97.

Despite the Red Boosters’ victory, the top three scorers of the game were all Tropang Giga players, with Quincy Miller scoring 35 points, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson managing 29 and Calvin Oftana with 25.

Red Boosters’ Choi Sung-won was No. 4 with 24 points.

Wednesday’s victory was the Red Boosters’ second win in a row in Group A after beating the Taipei Fubon Braves 98-77 in their opening game of the 2023-24 EASL.

Eight teams from across East Asia compete in the EASL. The group stage takes place in a round-robin format. The top two teams in each group, A and B, reach the semifinals, scheduled to be held in March next year.

Last season’s games had an unusual round-robin format in which every team in each group only played two games, rather than playing at least one game with each other.

All EASL games last season were held in Japan for reasons related to the Covid-19 pandemic, officials said at the time. This year’s group stage takes place in a home-and-away format.

The Red Boosters will be back in EASL action on Dec. 13 as they take on Chiba Jets Funabashi from Japan at Anyang Gymnasium.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]