UTSUNOMIYA, Japan – TNT coach Jojo Lastimosa was full of praise for Utsunomiya Brex after the reigning Japan B.League champion ran away with a 99-66 win in their 2023 EASL Champions Week face-off on Wednesday.
“It wasn’t a beautiful game from us,” said Lastimosa. “Hats off to the home team… They played really well and it was obvious that the team had real chemistry and their imports played really well with the locals.”
READ: TNT dealt 33-point beating by Japan B.League champ
Jalen Hudson, who came back for the EASL campaign of the Tropang GIGA after being replaced by Rondae Hollis-Jefferson midway into the PBA Governors’ Cup, had 28 points as the lone double digit scorer for the Tropang GIGA.
Utsunomiya had a lot more weapons with Josh Scott leading the way with 24 points and 14 rebounds, and fellow import Jerrett Grant contributing 20 points and 13 rebounds.
In contrast, TNT import Daniel Ochefu had nine points and nine rebounds, with Calvin Oftana ending up as the top scorer among the locals with eight points.
Mikey Williams and Roger Pogoy, who were coming off injuries, only had five apiece.
“I’m not making excuses. But it showed that they’re very, very well-coached as well. I just thought that we should have played a little better to make it a little bit more entertaining. It was really a big disappointment for me and for the team,” said Lastimosa.
The Tropang GIGA will face another domestic champion in the Seoul SK Knights of Korea on Thursday to cap off their group stage campaign.
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