The Kawasaki Brave Thunders¡¯ two-point halftime deficit increased to 12 entering the fourth quarter on Friday night.
The Brave Thunders didn¡¯t panic against the Sunrockers Shibuya.
They did the opposite, playing effective basketball in the fourth quarter, forcing overtime on Nick Fazekas¡¯ game-tying shot with 9 seconds left. They outscored the visitors 25-13 in the fourth and 17-10 in OT en route to a 93-86 triumph.
The Sunrockers led 76-73 with 36 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Yuma Fujii pulled the Brave Thunders within two, draining two free throws with 26 seconds to play in the fourth quarter.
Fazekas¡¯ clutch jumper made it 76-76.
The Central Division champion Brave Thunders displayed poise and excellence at the free-throw line in their 59th game of the regular season.
Kawasaki (49-10) sank 16 of 18 foul shots.
The Sunrockers, on the other hand, squandered chance after chance to win it with an abysmal showing at the foul line.
Shibuya canned 5 of 18 free throws. Ira Brown was 1-for-6. Robert Sacre was 3-for-8. Leo Vendrame was 1-for-4.
Meanwhile, MVP front-runner Fazekas, a former University of Nevada and NBA player, finished with 27 points and 20 rebounds for the hosts, with three assists, one steal and one block for good measure.
Kawasaki¡¯s Ryan Spangler had 14 points on 5-for-5 shooting, while Naoto Tsuji and Ryusei Shinoyama both scored 13. Fujii poured in 12 points. Tsuji and Fujii had four assists apiece, while Shinoyama handed out three. Shinoyama made a game-high five steals.
Sacre paced the Sunrockers (31-28) with 27 points on 12-for-20 shooting from the field and grabbed eight rebounds. Brown had 13 points and Kenta Hirose scored 11 and dished out six assists.
Shibuya outrebounded the hosts 42-39, including 16-11 in offensive boards. The Sunrockers outscored the Brave Thunders 17-8 in second-chance points.
Both teams had 10 steals.
Second-division update: Also Friday, the Nishinomiya Storks defeated the Tokyo Excellence 82-70.
The Storks improved to 42-17; the Excellence fell to 22-37.
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