What Happened

The Ryukyu Golden Kings defeated the Meralco Bolts 88-79 on the road to secure their place in the EASL Finals and earn one of two automatic byes to the semifinals as the No. 2 overall seed. The Golden Kings finished 5-1, topping their group for the second straight season.

Ryukyu controlled the game early, racing out to a 26-16 lead after the first quarter at Smart Araneta Coliseum. The momentum continued in the second, as the Golden Kings built a 51-36 advantage at halftime. 

Meralco mounted its push in the fourth quarter. Trailing by 16 entering the final period, the Bolts cut the deficit to 80-74 with 3:14 remaining following an Ismael Romero tip-in. However, they could not complete the comeback. Timely defensive stops, interior finishes from Jack Cooley, and composed free throws from Ryuichi Kishimoto and Vic Law sealed the result for Ryukyu.

Yoshiyuki Matsuwaki led the Golden Kings with 18 points, all coming in the first half on six made three-pointers. Law added 15 points. Romero paced Meralco with a game-high 24 points and nine rebounds, while newly signed import Cody Lalanne contributed 18 points and five boards.

The win sends Ryukyu directly to the semifinals with momentum, while Meralco’s loss marks a third consecutive season in which the PBA representative narrowly misses the EASL postseason, despite posting its strongest group-stage finish at 3-3.

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‍What It Means 

With the No. 2 overall seed, Ryukyu advances straight to the EASL Semifinals and will await the winner of Group A’s Utsunomiya Brex and Group C’s New Taipei Kings. As one of the two teams to earn an automatic bye, the Golden Kings will not play on quarterfinal day on March 18 and will instead make their first appearance in the EASL Finals on March 20.

Ryukyu will look to keep building on a clear upward trend in EASL. After missing the postseason in 2023–24, the Golden Kings reached the Final Four in 2024–25 but finished fourth. Now, with a direct path into the semifinals in 2025–26, they will have a chance to take the next step on the league’s biggest stage.

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Player of the Game: Yoshiyuki Matsuwaki 

Yoshiyuki Matsuwaki was unconscious in the first half and was instrumental in helping Ryukyu build a 15-point lead heading into halftime. Whether it came off catch-and-shoot looks or dribble hand-offs into a pull-up three, Matsuwaki was on target from all over the floor in the opening 20 minutes.

On one sequence, after Ryukyu came up with a loose ball following a Shuto Sakihama takeaway from Sina Vahedi, the Golden Kings pushed with numbers and found Matsuwaki spaced on the right wing. Even with multiple options available, the veteran guard rose up from deep and buried a three to make it 39–24 with just over two minutes left in the second quarter.

It was that kind of night for the Ryukyu local.

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Super Statistic: 10 

Ryukyu’s road win over Meralco marked the Golden Kings’ 10th regular season victory over the last two EASL seasons, the most by any team across a two-season span.

With EASL’s format bringing in champions from each partner league, roster and team turnover is part of the landscape. Even so, Ryukyu has been one of the constants, becoming one of just three teams in league history to compete in all three seasons since 2023-24. And compared to the other two, the Golden Kings have been the most successful.

The closest comparison is the New Taipei Kings, who also qualified for the EASL Finals on the final day of the 2025–26 regular season. New Taipei totaled eight regular season wins across the 2023–24 and 2024–25 campaigns.

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Next Up 

For the Ryukyu Golden Kings, a long break is now on the schedule, as they will not play again until March 20, when they tip off the semifinals at the EASL Finals in Macau at the Studio City Event Centre.

Ryukyu will face a familiar opponent, awaiting the winner between the New Taipei Kings and the Utsunomiya Brex. The matchup with Utsunomiya carries added meaning, with both clubs competing in Japan’s B.LEAGUE and having met in last season’s B.LEAGUE Finals, where the Golden Kings fell to the Brex 2–1 in the best-of-three series.

Ryukyu also has plenty of history with New Taipei. The teams were drawn into the same group in consecutive EASL seasons in 2023–24 and 2024–25, and their all-time series stands at 3–2 through five meetings. The most recent clash came at last season’s EASL Final Four, when New Taipei defeated Ryukyu in the third-place game.