Bears slips in first home match

The Macau Black Bears lost by just 3 points (93-96) in their second East Asia Super League game against the Ryukyu Golden Kings.

Playing for the first time on home ground at Studio City Macau, the Bears dominated—albeit by a small margin—the first three quarters of the game. However, a series of errors at the start of the fourth quarter jeopardized the consistent performance they had established in the earlier periods.

Arriving at the end of the third quarter with a narrow advantage of just 1 point (73-72), the Bears began the last period with a series of mistakes that contrasted sharply with the focused and efficient play of the Golden Kings.

In just a few minutes, the Golden Kings overcame the 1-point deficit and took a 10-point lead on the scoreboard. Eventually, the Bears regrouped and began to chip away at the deficit, but motivated by their advantage and with only a few minutes left to play, the Golden Kings managed to maintain their lead until the end, although it was reduced to just 3 points (93-96).

With only eight players on their roster, the Bears were forced to give extended minutes to their best players, with Damian Chongqui and William Artino each logging over 39 minutes on the court.

Team captain Jeantal Cylla also played over 38 minutes.

The standout player for the Macau team was Chongqui, who scored a total of 24 points, contrasting with the less inspired Cylla, who had scored a game-high 32 points in the first match against the New Taipei Kings.

In this game, Cylla managed only 16 points and missed all 4 of his attempts from long range.

On the Golden Kings’ side, Keve Aluma was the standout performer with a game-high 29 points, followed by teammate Jack Cooley with 24.

Playing primarily a six-man rotation, the Bears felt the strain in the second half after controlling the first half, where they led by 5 points at halftime (53-48). The Golden Kings dominated the second half, recovering 4 points in the third quarter and adding 4 more in the last.

Still, there is much left to play for the Bears, who will continue their home games, meeting the Busan KCC Egis from Korea on Nov. 6.