The host Takamatsu Five Arrows snapped the Niigata Albirex BB's five-game winning streak, with an 85-83 triumph on Saturday in bj-league action.
In the decisive fourth quarter, Takamatsu outscored Niigata 22-14.
Julius Ashby scored 21 points for the Five Arrows, while Makoto Kita had 16, Reggie Warren 14 and Rasheed Sparks 13 and 10 rebounds.
For the Albirex, Makoto Hasegawa had 24 points, five boards and five assists and Nick Davis had 15 points and 15 rebounds.
In Osaka, the Evessa outscored the Saitama Broncos 32-12 in the third quarter to secure an 111-94 win.
Evessa power forward Lynn Washington had 28 points, 11 rebounds and six assists.
David Palmer (25 points), Jeff Newton (23) and Masashi Joho (18) also sparked Osaka.
Saitama's Andrew Feeley scored a team-best 20 points, while Marcus Toney-El had 18, Gordon James 16 and a game-high 21 boards and ex-NBA player David Benoit poured in 10.
The host Sendai 89ers topped the Tokyo Apache 91-80. Michael Chappell paced Sendai with 23 points, and Mamadou Diouf (22), Ryan Blackwell (21) and Kenichi Takahashi (10) also had double-digit scoring efforts.
Tokyo's John "Helicopter" Humphrey scored 30.
Led by Andy Ellis' 31 points, the Oita HeatDevils defeated the visiting Toyama Grouses 91-84. Mikey Marshall chipped in with a double-double (17 points, 13 rebounds), Kohei Mitomo dished out eight assists and Yukinori Suzuki had 19 points and nine rebounds.
The Grouses' Nate James finished with 25 points.