March 6, 2011, was a typical Sunday for the Sendai 89ers.
The bj-league team, a perennial playoff squad under demanding bench boss Honoo Hamaguchi, faced the host Saitama Broncos in the finale of an ordinary two-game series, and star guard Mac Hopson scored 40 points in Sendai's 95-86 victory.
Less than a week later, Japan's present and future changed instantly. At 2:46 p.m., on March 11, the Great East Japan Earthquake, followed by a powerful tsunami, caused widespread devastation, thousands of deaths and unthinkable suffering to the Tohoku region. As a result, the 89ers' season also ended.