Led by Justin Burrell's 25-point performance, the Yokohama B-Corsairs cruised to an 86-58 victory over the visiting Shinshu Brave Warriors on Tuesday in their bj-league series opener.
Yokohama improved to 5-6, while Shinshu fell to 6-7 and extended its losing streak to three games. Both teams are first-year franchises.
The B-Corsairs led 47-30 at halftime in a game held at an unusual location, Yokohama International Pool.
Kenji Yamada scored 14 points and Chas McFarland had 13 points and 16 rebounds for Yokohama, which had five players reach double figures in points. Captain Masayuki Kabaya added 10 points and five assists.
Lee Roberts paced the Brave Warriors with 15 points and Yosuke Saito scored 10.
"(It was) a good team win," B-Corsairs coach Reggie Geary said, "and good execution on both ends of the floor. We expect a difficult game tomorrow vs. a good Nagano team."
The series resumes at 3 p.m. on Wednesday at Zama, Kanagawa Prefecture.