January 6, 2026

GAME PREVIEW: Everything to know about Hong Kong Eastern vs. Seoul SK Knights (Group A: January 7, 2026)

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GAME PREVIEW: Everything to know about Hong Kong Eastern vs. Seoul SK Knights (Group A: January 7, 2026)

Written By

Tyler Schiff

GAME PREVIEW: Everything to know about Hong Kong Eastern vs. Seoul SK Knights (Group A: January 7, 2026)

Seoul SK qualifies for EASL Finals with a win, HKE looks to spoil the KBL giants’ plans at home

Where: Southorn Stadium 

When: Wednesday, January 7, 8:00 p.m. CST

Team Records: Hong Kong Eastern  (1-2) / Seoul SK Knights (3-1)

Where to Watch: Ticket Information / Broadcast Information 

PROJECTED STARTERS 

Taipei Fubon Braves

PG: Glen Yang — 193cm / 91kg

SG: Jenning Leung — 186cm / 84kg

SF: Dominic Gilbert — 197cm / N/A 

PF: Cameron Clark  — 198cm / 95kg

C: Alexandre Gavrilovic  — 208cm / 112kg

‍Seoul SK Knights 

PG: Kim Nak Hyun — 184cm / 88kg 

SG: Oh Jae Hyun — 186cm / 85kg

SF: An Young Jun — 195cm / 95kg

PF: Darryl Monroe — 198cm / 115kg

C: Jameel Warney — 199cm / 112kg

TEAM STATISTIC LEADERS 

‍Hong Kong Eastern 

Points: Dominic Gilbert — 21.3 

Rebounds: Alexandre Gavrilovic — 11 

Assists: Chan Siu Wing — 5

Steals: Dominic Gilbert — 1.3 

Blocks: Alexandre Gavrilovic — 1.0 

Seoul SK Knights

Points: Jameel Warney — 26.0

Rebounds: Darryl Monroe — 10.8 

Assists: Oh Jaehyun — 5.0 

Steals: Oh Jaehyun — 3.0 

Blocks: Jameel Warney — 0.8 

THE RUNDOWN 

‍This will be the second meeting of the season between Seoul SK Knights and Hong Kong Eastern. Their first matchup came on November 12, 2025, when Seoul SK earned a 94-87 win to move to 1-1, while Eastern fell to 0-1.

In that SK victory, Jameel Warney led all scorers with 34 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists, and Lee Minseo provided a major spark off the bench with 20 points in 26 minutes. Eastern had three 20-point scorers, highlighted by Jennins Leung, who hit seven 3’s on his way to 21 points.

Since then, Leung has stayed hot. In Eastern’s most recent game, a 103–93 win over the Taipei Fubon Braves, he earned Player of the Game honors with 19 points, including five made 3’s.

The biggest storyline tonight is what’s at stake. With a win, Seoul SK can clinch an EASL postseason spot, becoming the first team this season to officially qualify, and returning to the postseason for the first time since 2023–24, when they finished runner-up to the Chiba Jets.

HONG KONG EASTERN

Hong Kong Eastern has looked sharp lately, picking up its first win of the season on December 28 with a 103-93 victory over the Taipei Fubon Braves. 

In that game, Eastern became the first team this season to have all five starters score in double figures, led by Cameron Clark’s 24 points, while Glen Yang nearly posted a double-double with 12 points and 9 assists. They also got a lift from their bench, especially Ivan Yang, who provided a spark with 8 points in 18 minutes plus 5 rebounds.

Quietly, Dominic Gilbert and Alexandre Gavrilovic have been doing a lot of the heavy lifting for Hong Kong Eastern. Gilbert leads the team at 21.3 points per game and also tops Eastern in steals at 1.3, while Gavrilovic anchors the interior, pacing the team with 11 rebounds per game and 1 block. 

Tomorrow comes the bigger test against Group A leaders Seoul SK, where Eastern will need to find a way to slow down Jameel Warney, a 300-point career EASL scorer. He gave them the most problems in their first meeting back in November.

SEOUL SK KNIGHTS

For Seoul SK, everything starts with Jameel Warney. He’s the face of Seoul SK and has a real case as one of the best players in EASL history. This season, Warney is averaging 26.0 points, 9.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 1.5 steals per game, and Seoul SK’s identity on both ends run through him.

He’s not doing it alone. His frontcourt running mate, Darryl Monroe, has been a steady second pillar, averaging 15.5 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 4.7 assists.

Seoul SK has turned that star power into results, winning two straight games in December to rise to the top of Group A and put themselves in position to qualify early. Now the question is whether they can finish the job away from home and clinch a postseason spot on the road at Southorn Stadium. 

SPOTLIGHT STORYLINE ‍

SEOUL SK COULD BE 1ST TO CLINCH POSTSEASON 

Coming into the season, it wouldn’t have been surprising to see Seoul SK become the first team to clinch qualification, but the way they’ve surged into that position has been even more convincing than expected. Domestically, SK is 16–12 and sits fourth in the KBL, but that spot is a reflection of a slow start to the season. It was a similar story in EASL, where they opened 0-1. Since then, they’ve flipped the switch and carried that momentum into a three-game win streak, now chasing a fourth that would officially lock up a postseason spot.If they get it done, it would mark SK’s first return to the EASL postseason since 2023–24, when they finished runner-up to the Chiba Jets, and their second postseason qualification in their second EASL season.

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