What Happened

The Changwon LG Sakers rolled to their first-ever EASL win in tremendous fashion, defeating Mongolia’s Xac Broncos 98–83. The reigning KBL champions had five players score in double figures, the only Korean team to do so this season, highlighted by just the third triple-double in EASL history and the first this season from import forward Assem Marei.

Across all four quarters, LG did not drop a single frame on the way to a dominant 15-point victory. The home side also received a standout 21-point performance from Yang Hongseok in his EASL debut since returning to the team from military service. Current KBL league leaders LG also enjoyed a breakout night from Carl Tamayo, who finished with 16 points and five assists on over 50 percent shooting from the field after he struggled during LG’s uncharacteristic 0–3 start to the campaign.

For the Broncos, veteran forward Bilguun Battuvshin delivered an extremely efficient outing, pouring in 31 points in just 18 minutes and going 9-for-10 from the free throw line. Outside of Battuvshin’s offensive explosion, however, LG’s defense held strong, limiting prolific imports Ian Miller and Efe Odigie to a combined 30 points, a relatively low total by their standards.
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What It Means 

After starting the 2025–26 EASL season 3–0, the Xac Broncos have suddenly dropped two straight and now sit at 3–2. Before today’s 98–83 loss, the Broncos fell 109–94 to the New Taipei Kings. That 15-point defeat was enough to overturn their 14-point win from the teams’ first meeting, meaning that with both sides now at 3–2, New Taipei moves into sole possession of first place in Group C on point differential.

LG’s win gets them on the board at 1–3, avoiding the distinction of being the first Korean representative in EASL history to start a season 0–4. There’s still a long way to go to climb out of the Group C basement, but with two regular-season games left, the Sakers still have a slim path to progressing past the group stage.

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Player of The Game: Assem Marei 

Assem Marei’s 21 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists against the Broncos marked the first triple-double of the 2025–26 season and just the third in league history. Marei also recorded six steals. He joins Macau Black Bears guard Damian Chong Qui and former New Taipei Kings guard Kenny Manigault as the only players to achieve the feat, after both recorded triple-doubles in the 2024–25 season.

A traditional big, Marei did most of his damage in and around the paint and relentlessly attacked the glass at both ends, grabbing more offensive rebounds (6) than defensive (4). Sharing the ball and finding teammates for open threes out of inside-out action, he willed LG to its first EASL win and noted postgame that, up to this point, EASL still had not seen the Sakers at their best.

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Super Statistic: 30 

Changwon LG’s 30 assists on the night marked the second-most by a Korean team in EASL history, trailing only the 32 recorded by the Anyang Jung Kwan Jang Red Boosters on December 6, 2023, in a 105–97 group-stage win over TNT Tropang Giga.

Alongside Assem Marei’s 11 assists, Carl Tamayo added five, and EASL assists leader Yang Junseok chipped in six, helping LG move the ball, create easier looks, and generate wide-open shots. The result was a season-high 63.6 percent field goal percentage as a team, including nearly 86 percent shooting on 2-point attempts.

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Next Up  

Tonight’s matchup was the Broncos’ final EASL game of the 2025 calendar year, while LG still has one more before the new year.

The Sakers travel to Tokyo on December 17 to face Alvark Tokyo, who currently sit at 1–1, in their second-to-last regular-season game.

As for the Broncos, they won’t play again until the final gameday of the regular season on February 11, when they also head to Arena Tachikawa Tachihi to take on Alvark.