By Jean Malanum
MANILA – The Hiroshima Dragonflies of Japan defeated Taoyuan Pauian Pilots of Chinese Taipei, 72-68, Sunday night in the final of the 2024-25 East Asia Super League (EASL) basketball tournament at the Studio City Event Center in Macau.
Dwayne Evans earned the Most Valuable Player honors, finishing with 18 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and three blocks for the Hiroshima Dragonflies, which became the second B. League champion to lift the EASL trophy after the Chiba Jets.
Kerry Blackshear Jr. chipped in 13 points, 15 rebounds and six assists, while Keijiro Mitani had 10 points.
Lu Chun-Hsiang paced the Taoyuan Pauian Pilots with 20 points and three rebounds followed by Treveon Graham with 16 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals; while Pai Yao-Cheng contributed 11 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals.
In the battle for third place, the New Taipei Kings beat the Ryukyu Golden Kings, 84-80.
Jeremy Lin scored a team-high 18 points while Joseph Lin and Kenneth Manigault Jr. added 16 points each.
Alex Kirk led the Golden Kings with 27 points and 12 rebounds, followed by Keve Aluma with 25 points and 14 rebounds.
Hiroshima clobbered New Taipei, 81-65, while Taoyuan prevailed over Ryuku Golden Kings, 71-64, in the semifinal. Hiroshima (6-5) and Taoyuan (6-4) topped Group A while Ryukyu (6-5) and New Taipei (6-4) topped Group B in the preliminaries to reach the Final Four. (PNA)
