The Tokyo Apache advanced to the bj-league's final four playoff weekend with a hard fought 103-88 victory over the Niigata Albirex in a wild-card game on Sunday afternoon.
Playing before a raucous crowd of 2,511 at Tokyo's Yoyogi Gymnasium, the Apache broke open a tight contest by employing a full-court press to open the second half. The move paid off by forcing several Niigata turnovers and Tokyo never looked back.
The victory puts the Apache into the final four for the second time in the league's three-year history. Tokyo will be joined at Ariake Colosseum on the weekend of May 3-4 by Sendai, Osaka and the expansion Rizing Fukuoka, who defeated the Takamatsu Five Arrows in the other wild-card contest on Sunday.