The Korean Basketball League's Wonju Dongbu Promy defeated the host Osaka Evessa 85-71 on Friday in the first game of the 2008 bj-league/KBL series before 5,850 fans.
Nick DeWitz, a former Sendai 89ers player, led the Evessa with 18 points, Naoto Nakamura scored 16 and Lynn Washington had 15.
All-Star forward Kazuya Hatano pulled down a team-best 12 rebounds for Osaka, which trailed 48-32 at halftime.
Promy's Wendell White, a former UNLV guard, scored a game-best 30 points. Teammate Reggie Okosa poured in 20 points on 9-for-16 shooting.
The teams, defending champions in their respective leagues, will meet again on Sept. 28 in Wonju, South Korea.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.