MONGOLIA TAKES DOWN GUAM 74-63

By Jay Leon Guerrero

The Mongolia Men’s National Basketball team got revenge against Team Guam in the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifier (Pool C) game played Thursday night at the UOG Calvo Field House.

Mongolia led from start to finish and ended the game with a 74-63 victory over Guam. Guam defeated Mongolia last year with an identical 74-63 final score. The 11-point margin is a rare situation in pool play, and with one game remaining, both teams still have a shot to advance to Round 2 in Saudi Arabia later this year.

So here’s the scenario: in Pool C, both Japan and China occupy the first two positions and advance to the next round to be played in August in Saudi Arabia. The third place teams in each pool still have a shot at qualifying, but they still need to fight for a spot against other third place teams in other pools.

Guam and Mongolia are deadlocked in the pool with 1-4 records, and the tie-breaker is 11 points with one game remaining. “I really have to go back and ask the organization who is regarded as the higher seed in the case we finish with identical records and both of us won by 11 points,” said Guam head coach EJ Calvo.

“But for now, our focus is against China on Sunday. If it goes down to a point differential, we just have to play our best,” said Calvo. Guam will host China on Sunday at UOG at 5 pm, the Mongolian team’s final game will be against Japan.

Game sequence:
Mongolian simply shot the ball better on Thursday night against the home team, shooting 51 percent from the field compared to Guam’s 33 percent.

Ernest Ross led Guam with 18 points, Jonathan Galloway 17 points and 10 rebounds. The game was a physical game, but it was Mongolia’s ability to silence the crowd when Guam had the potential to make a run.

Guam was within seven points with three minutes left, but a three-pointer by Mongolia ended any hopes of a comeback. Mongolia was perfect from the free throw line as well, which enabled them to secure the victory.

In the waning moments, even as the fans were heading for the exits, both teams were playing hard to gain an advantage via head-to-head point differential. Guam played good defense with less than a second left to prevent Mongolia from winning by more than 11.

“This was a different team we played last year,” said Guam guard Joe Blas. “I saw about five new players that we did not play against in the previous year. It was some of those new players who made an impact on the game.”

Mongolia head coach Vasileious Fragkias said he was proud of his team for fighting the entire game. “We have a young team, I think our average age is around 21 years old. I’m glad they were able to dig deep and fight til the end,” said Fragkias.

“My teammates really pulled through today, I’m proud of how we played out there,” said Mongolian forward Margad Erdenetsetseg. Erdenetsetseg, a 20-year-old forward, had a team-high 16 points, nine rebounds and four steals. Veternan guard Erdentsogot Ochirbat set the tempo early and finished with 11 points. 

Guam now shifts their focus against China, who will arrive on Friday. “The China team has some weapons, but we have to play hard the entire game,” said Calvo.

Tickets are still available online for Sunday’s game, which will tip off at 5 pm. The team said the energy from the crowd will be a boost for them, and the local support will help ignite the team. Tickets can be purchased at the door or online at guamtime.net.