JAKARTA ¨C The Japan men¡¯s national basketball team¡¯s bizarre, unprecedented journey at the Asian Games is nearly ¡ª and finally ¡ª coming to an end.
The Akatsuki Five, who lost four players as a result of a scandal earlier in the tournament, will play with eight men for one last time when they take on host Indonesia in the seventh-place match on Friday.
The four players ¡ª Yuya Nagayoshi of the Kyoto Hannaryz, Takuya Hashimoto of the Osaka Evessa, Takuma Sato of the Shiga Lakestars and Keita Imamura of the Niigata Albirex BB ¡ª were kicked out by the Japan Olympic Committee for buying sex in the entertainment district of Jakarta on Aug. 16.
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