KAWASAKI ¨C The Toyota Motors Alvark have clearly been the biggest story during the second half of the NBL¡¯s 2013-14 season. This, of course, included Toyota¡¯s impressive 28-game winning streak.

On Friday night, the Toshiba Brave Thunders grabbed the spotlight from their Eastern Conference rivals and ended their epic winning streak. The Brave Thunders rebounded from a deficit that was as many as 12 points and came through defensively in the final quarter in a 80-74 victory over Toyota at Todoroki Arena.

Toshiba (46-7) has now clinched first place in the conference, earning a first-round bye in the playoffs, with one more game to play in the regular season.

¡°We expected a very tough game and thought it would come down to our rebounding and defense,¡± Toshiba head coach Takuya Kita said after the game. ¡°Our players performed to their best for the entire 40 minutes.¡±

Toyota was ahead 37-30 at halftime, but the Brave Thunders bounced back with a hard-nosed defensive effort. The Kawasaki-based club outscored its rival 50-37 in the second half.

¡°In this game, there are times you have the momentum and you don¡¯t have the momentum¡± Kita said. ¡°And you¡¯ve got to play patiently when you don¡¯t. Our players played their defense with patience.¡±

The league¡¯s leading scorer, Nick Fazekas, had a game-high 27 points and 17 rebounds for Toshiba, while sharpshooter Naoto Tsuji chipped in with 16 points.

For the Alvark (44-9), who dropped their first regular-season game since mid-December, Philip Ricci had 18 points and Jeff Gibbs followed with 16 points.

Toshiba point guard Ryusei Shinoyama insisted that his team wasn¡¯t particularly frightened by Toyota¡¯s outstanding achievement coming in the game.

In fact, the Brave Thunders have now gone 4-1 against the Alvark in the regular season.

¡°I think that we match up well against (the Alvark),¡± said Shinoyama, who had five points and four assists.

The teams square off again on Saturday at 3 p.m. at the same venue.