The Osaka Evessa ended a rare two-game losing streak on Sunday, edging the host Oita HeatDevils 73-70 in a duel between two Western Conference rivals. Matt Lottich scored a team-high 23 points for the Evessa, who improved to 17-5. Teammate Mikey Marshall scored 22 points against his former club, while Kazuya Hatano contributed 12 and Naoto Nakamura had nine. Osaka held the HeatDevils (10-12) to 10 second-quarter points. For Oita, big man Andy Ellis, who played college ball at Texas Tech, had a game-best 26 points and 16 rebounds. Justin Allen added 12 points and a dozen rebounds and Kohei Mitomo had an 11-point outing.In other bj-league action on Sunday, the Takamatsu Five Arrows posted a 109-86 victory over the visiting Sendai 89ers to earn a split in the marquee, two-game matchup. Led by All-Star forward Reggie Warren's 34 points and 15 rebounds and 13 points apiece from center George Leach and shooting guard Satoshi Takeda, Takamatsu (14-8) overcame the high-scoring output from Sendai's 'Big Three," Nick DeWitz (25 points), Bobby St. Preux (25 points) and Ryan Blackwell (21). Rasheed Sparks orchestrated Takamatsu's high-octane performance from the point, dishing out nine assists and scoring another nine.The 89ers slipped to 17-5, but remain in first place in the Eastern Conference. Also Sunday, the visiting Saitama Broncos defeated the Toyama Grouses 59-49. With the win, Saitama (11-11) improved to .500 for the first time this season. Mamadou Diouf (16 points, 10 rebounds), Gordon James (13 points, 17 boards) and Aaron Sakai Lawrence (12 points) paced the Broncos. For the struggling Grouses (3-21), Kazutoshi Ohta and Robby Joyner scored 13 points apiece.
