Red Boosters lock in EASL semifinals with 88-76 win in the Philippines

The Anyang Jung Kwan Jang Red Boosters beat TNT Tropang Giga 88-76 in an East Asia Super League group stage game on Wednesday, locking in a Group A runner-up finish to secure a place in the semifinals.

The Anyang Jung Kwan Jang Red Boosters' Park Ji-hoon in action during an East Asia Super League game against TNT Tropang Giga at PhilSports Arena in Pasig, Philippines in a photo shared on the Red Boosters' Instagram account on Thursday. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

The Anyang Jung Kwan Jang Red Boosters beat TNT Tropang Giga 88-76 in an East Asia Super League (EASL) group stage game on Wednesday, locking in a Group A runner-up finish to secure a place in the semifinals.

Wednesday’s game at PhilSports Arena in Pasig, Philippines started with defending champions Red Boosters showing dominance, winning the first quarter 34-19.

The Red Boosters continued to dominate and barred Giga from managing a comeback during the whole contest, winning the second quarter 53-41 and third quarter 71-61, before ending the game at 88-76.

The Red Boosters’ Choi Sung-won and Robert Carter shone the most during the game, with Choi scoring 23 points and Carter managing 22 on his own.

Wednesday’s win was the second time the Red Boosters had beaten the Filipino side in the group stage, having secured a 105-97 victory on Dec. 6 last year.

The victory also allowed the Red Boosters to join the last four in the knockout stage with three wins and two losses in the group stage so far.

The Red Boosters have seen some success in the EASL this season despite struggling in the KBL where they sit in seventh place on the 10-team table as of Thursday.

The last group stage game against Taipei Fubon Braves on Feb. 7 will be a formality for the defending champions.

In Group A, group winners Chiba Jets Funabashi from Japan also reached the semifinals with six wins.

Eight teams from across East Asia compete in this season’s EASL. The group stage runs in a round-robin format. The top two teams in each group, A and B, reach the semifinals, scheduled to take place in March.

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 season’s group stage takes place in a home-and-away format.

Korean teams dominated the EASL last season, with the final turning out to be an all-Korean affair between Anyang KGC, now called the Red Boosters, and the Seoul SK Knights.

Last season’s runners-up Knights have struggled so far in Group B this season, however, sitting in third place with two wins and two losses.

The Knights still have two more group stage games to play, with their next game against New Taipei Kings on Jan. 31.

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