Oita HeatDevils swingman Ricky Woods got into a rhythm, making basket after basket in Saturday's game against the Niigata Albirex BB.
As the game progressed, the HeatDevils were smart enough to keep feeding the ball to Woods, the bj-league's fourth-leading scorer.
Woods scored 44 points, six points shy of Jeff Newton's league single-game record set last season for the Ryukyu Golden Kings in the Western Conference final against the Osaka Evessa, to lead the hosts to an 84-83 win over Niigata. He made 19 of 28 shots from the field, grabbed 13 rebounds and made collected three steals, two assists and two blocked shots.