The big fellow carried a big work load on Saturday night at Ariake Colosseum. Tokyo Apache center Nick Davis had 22 points and pulled down 21 rebounds in an 87-82 victory over the Rizing Fukuoka. John "Helicopter" Humphrey scored a 23 points and Masashi Joho added 10 points to lead the Apache, who improved to 12-9 in the bj-league. Joshua Peppers had a team-best 20 points and newcomer Michael Parker added 17 for Fukuoka (8-12). Elsewhere, the visiting Niigata Albirex BB outscored the Ryukyu Golden Kings 25-13 in the fourth quarter en route to a 79-69 win. Forward Andre Smith's 20 points led Niigata (14-10), while Rodney Webb scored 19 and Makoto Hasegawa 13. For the Golden Kings (5-17), Naoto Takushi led the way with 13 points. The host Saitama Broncos defeated the Toyama Grouses 76-63 to improve to 10-11. Mamadou Diouf scored 22 points and Gordon James had 21 to spark the Broncos, who pulled away by outscoring the Grouses (3-20) by a 21-7 margin in the third quarter. For the Grouses, Robby Joyner had a team-high 20 points. In Beppu, Oita Prefecture, the host HeatDevils prevailed 102-93 over the Osaka Evessa, handing the two-time defending champions their second consecutive loss. Seven players scored in double figures for Oita (10-11), led by Justin Allen (18) and Kohei Mitomo (15), while Tsbuasa Yonamine dished out 10 assists and scored 14. For the Evessa (16-5), Jeff Newton was No. 1 in scoring with 22. In Takamatsu, the Sendai 89ers improved to a league-best 17-4, beating the host Five Arrows 89-80. Nick DeWitz (25 points) and Kenichi Takahashi (18) were the top scorers for Sendai, while Reggie Warren's 24 points led Takamatsu (13-8).
