Four Bambitious Nara players sank two 3-pointers apiece and coach Koto Toyama's club made it difficult for the Oita HeatDevils to score in bunches, salvaging a series split against the hosts on Thursday night.

Nara's 82-64 triumph featured Joe Chapman's 18 points and Jamar Abrams' 14.

Anthony Brown scored 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Bambitious (15-31) and Adrian Moss had 11 points and eight boards. Tatsuya Suzuki scored eight points, dished out six assists and made two steals. Jumpei Honda and Taishi Kasahara both had seven points for the bj-league expansion squad.

Nara shot 54.3 percent from inside the arc (19-35) and 10-for-27 on 3s, with Suzuki, Brown, Abrams and Chapman each swishing a pair.

Oita (20-26) trailed 46-38 at halftime.

Verdell Jones III paced the HeatDevils with 19 points and six assists. Taishiro Shimizu and Devonne Giles both scored 12 points, while Shuichi Takada had nine. Giles also hauled in 10 rebounds.

Gabe McCulley led Oita with 11 boards.

The HeatDevils shot 22-for-65 from the field, including 6-for-26 on 3-point attempts.

Nara is now 1-3 against Oita this season.

The teams meet again on Saturday and Sunday in Oita.

Editor's note: This weekend's wrap-up report, which generally focuses only on Sunday games, will also detail Saturday's series openers. Look for the comprehensive article on The Japan Times website.