Joji Takeuchi scored a team-high 18 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead the Hitachi Sunrockers to a 63-60 win over the Panasonic Trians in Game 1 of their JBL first-round playoff series on Saturday.
Tyler Smith added 13 points and Toshihiro Sato had 12 for Hitachi, while Kei Igarashi dished out five assists.
For Panasonic, Takumi Hamada finished with 18 points.
Also Saturday, J.R. Sakuragi scored a game-high 24 points and 2008-09 regular-season MVP Kosuke Takeuchi added 15 in the Aisin Sea Horses' 80-72, series-opening victory over the Toyota Alvark.
Louis Campbell paced the Alvark with 18 points.
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