The Hiroshima Dragonflies claimed their first-ever EASL championship with a 72-68 victory over the Taoyuan Pauian Pilots in the EASL Final Four 2025 title game. The Dragonflies' triumph marks the second consecutive season a B.LEAGUE team has won the league, following the Chiba Jets' championship in 2023-24 during EASL’s inaugural season.

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Dwayne Evans earned EASL Final Four 2025 MVP honors after averaging 19 points and 13.5 rebounds across the weekend. In the final, he led Hiroshima with 18 points, 11 rebounds, and three blocks, while Kerry Blackshear Jr. added 13 points and 15 boards.

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Taoyuan was led by Lu Chun-Hsiang’s 20 points and Treveon Graham’s 16, but late-game miscues proved costly. Lu’s turnover on the Pilots’ potential go-ahead possession in the closing moments sealed Hiroshima’s victory.

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Postgame Triple 

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Second Half Surge 

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Hiroshima had a strong second half to the season, which ultimately helped them secure their first-ever EASL title.

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At the halfway point of the 2024-25 campaign, Hiroshima was struggling. While they had secured consecutive wins over Hong Kong Eastern in the first two games, a narrow 80-78 loss to the Suwon KT Sonicboom on December 4 raised doubts. Especially considering that the Pauian Pilots had beaten Suwon by more than 20 points earlier in the season, many doubted that Hiroshima would finish at the top of Group A, let alone claim the title. However, Hiroshima responded by winning five straight games, ultimately capturing their first-ever EASL title.

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The Dragonflies showed incredible resilience, patience, and composure as they finished the rest of their season strong after that scare against KT. Now, almost a year after their surprising B. LEAGUE Championship victory, Hiroshima is the undisputed champion of Asia.

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Taoyuan’s Boogeyman 

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Before the game, Taoyuan’s head coach Iurgi Caminos pointed out that it’s difficult for any team to beat another twice. He was right, especially in the case of the Pauian Pilots. In their previous matchups with Hiroshima, the Dragonflies showed clear signs of improvement despite suffering consecutive losses. On December 25, 2024, Taoyuan lost to Hiroshima by 11 points. About a month later, in an away game, the Pilots came closer but still lost, 95-92—a noticeable improvement.

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On Sunday, with the Pilots holding a 68-67 lead and possession with 30 seconds left, it seemed like Caminos’ pre-game warnings might come true. But once again, Taoyuan’s downfall came at the hands of its nemesis. A costly turnover allowed Dwayne Evans to score in the paint, followed by a shot clock violation and another turnover on the offensive end. That’s how the Pauian Pilots’ hopes were dashed. It seemed like they had everything in order, until they didn’t.

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During the 2024-25 campaign, Taoyuan appeared invincible for much of the group stage, even defeating the long-time Japanese powerhouse, the Ryukyu Golden Kings, in the semifinals. At times, the Pauian Pilots seemed unstoppable. However, whenever they faced Hiroshima in the key moments, they fell just short.  

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Prove Doubters Wrong 

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Not many backed Taoyuan in its EASL season-opener, never mind thinking that the team would make it all the way to the league’s championship game.

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Few expected Taoyuan to even make it to the EASL championship game, let alone have the kind of success they did. However, in a tough away battle against Suwon KT, the Pauian Pilots made a statement by holding the Korean team to just seven points in the fourth quarter — the lowest for any team in a quarter this season — to win in dominant fashion, 91-70.

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And Taoyuan continued to prove its doubters wrong, posting big wins against top teams. After the Suwon KT victory, the Pilots beat the reigning Korean Basketball League regular season champions. Then, they dismantled the Philippine Basketball Association giants, the San Miguel Beermen. While they couldn’t defeat Taoyuan in their three meetings, the Pilots demonstrated they could compete with Asia’s elite on the continent’s biggest basketball stage.

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EASL Player of the Game: Dwayne Evans — Hiroshima Dragonflies 

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Dwayne Evans has been a standout performer throughout this year’s EASL, and his dominance continued in the championship game. The 6-foot-6 forward had been averaging 24 points and 12.7 rebounds per game before putting up another stellar performance with 18 points and 11 rebounds in the final.

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Even while being guarded by Taoyuan’s elite defender, Treveon Graham, Evans consistently found ways to penetrate the defense and either finish in the paint or dish out to a teammate for a high-quality shot. In the semifinals against Jeremy Lin and New Taipei, Evans posted another monster stat line of 20 points and 16 rebounds before leading Hiroshima to their EASL championship victory on Sunday.

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Stat of the Game: 35.6% 

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At first glance, 35.6% shooting from the field may not seem like an impressive stat. In fact, it was Hiroshima’s lowest shooting percentage of the entire season, including both the group stage and postseason.

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However, despite its offensive struggles, Hiroshima secured the win against a tough Taoyuan team thanks to its exceptional defense. The Dragonflies registered five steals, six blocks (a season-high), and pulled down 51 rebounds — also a season-high — 33 of which were defensive.

Not to mention, Hiroshima guard Ryu Watanabe made a crucial steal in the final moments of the game to secure their EASL Final Four triumph. In Hiroshima’s case, the adage defense wins championships couldn’t have been truer.