What Happened

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Utsunomiya Brex earned an 83-74 home win over Hong Kong Eastern at Brex Arena Utsunomiya in front of a near-4,000 crowd. D.J. Newbill led the way with 23 points and 10 assists on 8-for-17 shooting, while Grant Jarrett impressed in his EASL debut with 22 points on 9-for-16, including two threes. Gavin Edwards and Makoto Hiejima also scored in double figures as Brex controlled the game for most of the night.

Hong Kong Eastern saw their two-game win streak snapped and struggled to generate consistent offense beyond their top options. New signing Damian Chongqui finished with 10 points in 26 minutes, while Cameron Clark and Alexandre Gavrilovic logged 40 minutes each and combined for 38 points and 16 rebounds. Brex dropped the fourth quarter 17-12 but had already built enough of a cushion to close it out.

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What It Means

The result reshuffles the lower half of Group A. Hong Kong Eastern entered the night at 2-2 in third place, while Utsunomiya Brex were 1-2 and sitting fourth. 

With the Brex win, Utsunomiya improves to 2–2 and moves up into third, while Eastern drops to 2-3 and slides to the bottom of the group. Eastern now has one game remaining, while the Brex still have two left to play.

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Player of the Game: D.J. Newbill 

D.J. Newbill delivered his most complete performance of the season in the win over Hong Kong Eastern. Entering the night as one of just three EASL players averaging at least 20 points and five assists, Newbill finished with 23 points and 10 assists, while also pulling down eight rebounds in a near triple-double showing. He knocked down a season-high seven three-pointers, shooting 7-for-14 from deep for an even 50%.

What made the performance stand out was how those shots were created. Rather than relying on catch-and-shoot looks, Newbill consistently generated his own offense with step-backs, crossovers, and side-steps, rising up over defenders after creating space. 

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Super Statistic: 43 or 51.8%

Not only did D.J. Newbill post a near triple-double with 23 points, 10 assists, and 8 rebounds, but he also drove more than half of Utsunomiya’s offense in the 83-point win. Newbill scored 23 himself and added 10 assists, which is at least 20 additional points created, even if every assist led to a two-pointer. That puts him at a minimum of 43 points responsible for, or over half of Brex’s total output.

When compared to his recent games, the jump in influence is clear. In his previous outing on December 17 against the Seoul SK Knights, Newbill was responsible for 26 of Utsunomiya’s 78 points (33.3%). The game before that, on October 22, also against Seoul SK, he accounted for 36 of 97 points (37.1%). The closest he had come to matching this level of control was on October 8 against the Taipei Fubon Braves, when he generated 52 of Utsunomiya’s 107 points (48.6%) in an overtime loss, finishing with 32 points and 10 assists.

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Next Up 

Hong Kong Eastern now have just one regular-season game remaining, and it comes in a rematch against Utsunomiya Brex. Eastern will host the Brex on December 4 in Hong Kong at Southorn Stadium. Utsunomiya, meanwhile, still has two games left. They travel to Hong Kong for that December 4 matchup before closing their regular season at home on February 11, when they host the Taipei Fubon Braves at Brex Arena Utsunomiya.