Michael Parker posted his 25th double-double of the season to lead the Rizing Fukuoka to an 81-65 home win over the Tokyo Apache on Friday night in the bj-league.
Parker scored a game-high 27 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and collected four steals as Fukuoka improved to 23-15, the second-best record in the Western Conference. Thiago Cordeiro had 16 points and 11 boards, while Marlyn Bryant and Satoshi Ishitani scored 10 apiece. Bryant and Tsuyoshi Kawazura both dished out five assists.
Ishitani was 4-for-4 from the field, including 2-for-2 on 3-point shots, while setting a season-high total in points.
The Apache (12-24) won the series opener 90-81 on Thursday, but were outscored 49-20 in the second and third quarters and couldn't stage a comeback in the fourth.
Julius Ashby paced Tokyo with 17 points, Cohey Aoki scored 14 and Shoji Nakanishi had 13.
Both teams had lousy shooting numbers from 3-point range — Fukuoka shot 4-for-20; Tokyo shot 4-for-18 — but the Rizing made up for it by holding a 56-35 edge in rebounds.
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