Nick Fazekas finished with a double-double and balanced scoring helped lead the Kawasaki Brave Thunders to an 83-80 triumph over the Kyoto Hannaryz on Friday night.
Fazekas scored 23 points and grabbed 15 rebounds — game-high totals in both categories — at Todoroki Arena.
Teammate Ryusei Shinoyama scored 11 points and dished out four assists. Mamadou Diouf chipped in with 10 points and eight rebounds. Yuma Fujii, Kengo Nomoto and Naoto Tsuji all scored seven points for Kawasaki (36-6).
The Brave Thunders, who shot 51.1 percent from inside the 3-point arc, led 46-32 at halftime.
For Kyoto (20-22), Shingo Utsumi was the top scorer with 19 points, including 4 of 6 from 3-point range. Newcomer Mo Charlo contributed 14 points, six rebounds and two blocks. Kevin Kotzur and Marcus Dove both had 12 points. Dove also pulled down 11 rebounds.
Alvark 71, Evessa 70
In Tokyo, the hosts escaped with a razor-thin victory over a pesky Osaka squad.
Shoheki Kikuchi drained two clutch free throws with 2 seconds left to put the Alvark (32-10) in front 71-67.
The Evessa's Xavier Gibson drained a 3-pointer with 1 second remaining, with the assist coming from Richard Roby.
Oaska (21-21) ran out of time to make an improbable comeback.
Former NBA forward Jeff Ayres paced Tokyo with 24 points along with six rebounds and three blocks. Daiki Tanaka had an 18-point, six-assist effort and Kikuchi scored eight points. Center Trent Plaisted chipped in with eight points.
Alvark guard Diante Garrett, the league's fifth-leading scorer (17.8 points a game) missed the contest with a sprained left wrist. He's expected to be sidelined for two weeks, the team announced on Thursday.
For Osaka, Gibson had a team-high 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds and Roby scored 13 points. Evessa center Josh Harrellson had 10 points and 13 boards, Shinnosuke Negoro poured in eight points and Hiroyuki Kinoshita had seven points and four assists.
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