Texas Southern alum Travele Jones scored 23 points on 9-for-9 shooting, former UNLV standout Wendell White poured in 21 and grabbed 11 rebounds and Takehiko Shimura dished out 13 assists as the Sendai 89ers defeated the visiting Gunma Crane Thunders 85-76 on Friday night at Xebio Arena.
Fumiya Sato, a 23-year-old guard, knocked down 4 of 7 3-pointers and scored 14 points off the bench for the 89ers, who picked up their first victory under new coach Shuto Kawachi.
Sendai lost both games in its season-opening series against the host Niigata Albirex BB last week in the bj-league.
Gunma, meanwhile, fell to 1-2.
Center Dzaflo Larkai grabbed 12 rebounds for the 89ers and White pulled down 11 to finish with his first double-double of the season. The 89ers collected 50 rebounds and held an 18-7 edge on the offensive glass. The Crane Thunders hauled in 34 total rebounds.
Serbian Darko Cohadarevic paced Gunma with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Masashi Obuchi scored 13 points and Marvell Waithe had 10.
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