Matt Lottich scored 23 points to lead the host Osaka Evessa to a 109-70 win over the Takamatsu Five Arrows on Saturday. Six Evessa players scored in double figures, including Jeff Newton (21), David Palmer (18) and Naoto Nakamura (15). Julius Ashby had 22 points for the second-place Five Arrows, who fell five games behind Osaka in the bj-league standings.
The visiting Toyama Grouses defeated the Sendai 89ers 93-88. Jerod Ward and Nile Murry scored 26 and 23 points, respectively, for the Grouses, while Takanori Goya tied his season-high output with 17 and Nate James had 16. The 89ers' Mamadou Diouf had 35 points and 20 rebounds.
The host Niigata Albirex BB edged the Saitama Broncos 66-63 and moved into a tie for second. Jack Hartman had a team-best 22 points, Nick Davis added 10 and pulled down 14 boards, Daiki Terashita poured in 11 points and Antoni Wyche dished out seven assists for the Albirex. For the Broncos, Gordon James had 22 points and 15 rebounds and Kazuhiro Shoji scored 19.
Andy Ellis scored 39 points, Justin Allen had 23, Mikey Marshall added 16 and Yukinori Suzuki chipped in 10 and had 11 assists in the Oita HeatDevils' 114-78 win over the Tokyo Apache.