Dwight Gordon scored 22 points and Erron Maxey had 13 as the Niigata Albirex BB defeated the host Yokohama B-Corsairs 74-68 in their bj-league series opener on Wednesday.
First-year coach Matt Garrison's Albirex squad (3-2) was playing its first game since Oct. 16, while the B-Corsairs had been idle since Oct. 23. Niigata's Nile Murry chipped in with 11 points and eight boards, Chris Holm grabbed 11 rebounds and Yuichi Ikeda chipped in with eight points at Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium.
For Yokohama (3-4), Justin Burrell finished with 22 points and 15 rebounds and Marcus Simmons had a 20-point performance. Chas McFarland added 12 points and Masayuki Kabaya and Kenji Yamada each scored five. Yamada had a team-best four assists.
Niigata led 57-53 entering the fourth quarter, and Yokohama never took the lead in the game's final 10 minutes.