The Sendai 89ers picked up their ninth victory in 10 games, edging the Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix 98-94 in a down-to-the-wire bj-league contest on Saturday.
The host 89ers (26-19) led 80-66 entering the fourth quarter, but trailed by a point in the final minute after Hamamatsu (30-15), the first-place team in the Eastern Conference, staged a comeback.
Forward Rodney Webb scored the go-ahead basket with 24 seconds remaining to give Sendai a 95-94 lead it would not relinquish.