The Kawasaki Brave Thunders dominated the second quarter and built a sizable advantage that never vanished en route to a 103-70 series-opening victory over the visiting Niigata Albirex BB on Friday.
Leading by a point after the opening period, the Brave Thunders outscored the Albirex 28-7 in the second stanza to take a 50-28 lead into halftime at Todoroki Arena.
The high-scoring hosts had 80 points entering the fourth quarter and held a 35-point advantage.
Big man Nick Fazekas paced Kawasaki (3-2) with 26 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Teammate Ryan Spangler also had a double-double (10 points, 11 boards). Mamadou Diouf and Hiroki Taniguchi both scored 14 points and Yuya Nagayoshi chipped in with 13.
Power forward Clint Chapman, a University of Texas alum, led Niigata (2-3) with 30 points, Shunki Hatakeyama scored 12 and made five steals and Davante Gardner had 10 points. Stephan Van Treese added nine points and seven rebounds.
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In the second division, the Gunma Crane Thunders edged the Fukushima Firebonds 80-75, the Nishinomiya Storks topped the Earthfriends Tokyo Z 80-74 and the Ehime Orange Vikings beat the Kagoshima Rebnise 90-83.
