NEW TAIPEI CITY (Chinese Taipei) - Jordy Tshimanga strapped Ulaanbaatar Xac on his broad shoulders to shock New Taipei, 81-68, in a rousing start to their BCL Asia-East 2025 campaign on Wednesday night.
The Canadian big man scored 12 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter as he presided over the Broncos' 30-point eruption to turn things around, and eventually complete the comeback after being down by 12 early.
He helped put together the decisive 12-2 run, nailing the go-ahead bucket during that stretch before capping it off himself to flip a five-point deficit to a 67-62 lead with less than five minutes remaining.
The 28-year-old would also nail key buckets for the breakaway, nailing back-to-back hits to push their lead to a decade, 78-68, with 1:07 left to play, leaving the home crowd at the Xinzhuang Gymnasium stunned.
That's because their Kings couldn't complete a sweep of their three-game home stand as they bowed to a side that came in with much fresher legs, having competed in their very first game of the tourney.
"It means a lot," said Tshimanga, who shot an efficient 14-of-19 from the floor as he generated most of his offense from the post, collecting 8 rebounds as well together with a steal and a block in 26 minutes of play.
"I've just joined the team recently, and they emphasized over the last few days how important it was for their program to get this victory. So, I make sure to come locked in and ready to play," he added.
Also key in the turnaround was Jordan Tolbert, who finished with 15 points. 10 rebounds, and 6 steals in a homecoming of sorts for the 31-year-old, having had numerous stints in the Chinese Taipei pro scene.
Barsbold Baatar Erdene had 15 points as well alongside 6 rebounds to help Ulaanbaatar emulate their start from last year's BCL Asia Qualifiers, where they also won game no. 1 - a 98-74 romp over Adroit.
Making the win all the more significant was that it made head coach Ariunbold Erdene successful in his first taste of international experience - the 31-year-old took over the reins from Zeljko Vasiljevic prior to the season.
"Thanks to the Lord, this was a tough game. For me, this my very first time working in an international tournament as a coach. Congratulations to our players, and thanks also to the New Taipei Kings," said Erdene.
New Taipei, on the other hand, leaned on the 1-2 punch of Michael Efevberha and Jason Washburn as the two reinforcements carried the load with 19 and 18 points, respectively, in a losing effort.
That's because the locals hardly made their presences felt unlike in their huge win against Adroit some 24 hours ago, with Hung Chih-Shan the only one who finished with 9 points alongside 8 assists.
The Kings fell to 2-1 following the result and will now turn their attention to the May 2-7 window in Bangkok, Thailand, where they aim to repeat against hometown bets Hi-Tech Basketball and Adroit.
FIBA