By REYNALD MAGALLON
Justin Brownlee and his Indonesian team Pelita Jaya formally booked their spot in the main draw of Basketball Champions League Asia main draw after a dominant 88-67 victory over Prawira Harum Bandung on Wednesday, April 24.
Pelita Jaya exacted revenge to its IBL Finals tormentor, building a lead that went to as high as 24 points and never looked back from there to join the champion teams from the PBA, B.League, Korean Basketball League and Chinese Basketball League in the main tournament.
Unlike in the opening game of the first round, Brownlee didn’t have to do much, scattering 10 points, six rebounds, three assists and a steal as fellow imports JaQuori McLaughlin and KJ McDaniels took turns in leading the charge.
McLaughlin finished with 24 points while McDaniels, who was a former TNT and Meralco import in the PBA, chipped in a double-double of 15 points and 17 rebounds.
The team also had plenty of help from the local supporting cast with Muhammad Guntara and Fil-Indonesian Brandon Jawato contributing 13 and 10 points respectively.
Brandon Francis paced Prawira with 16 points and seven rebounds while Indra Muhammad added 11. Their team however is now in a tight race with Malaysian team NS Matrix and Hong Kong Eastern for the second and last ticket to the BCL Asia main draw.
