For the Levanga Hokkaido, their Halloween treat was repeated trips to the free-throw line.
Hokkaido sank 23 of 31 attempts in an 84-69 Monday victory, its second in as many days over the visiting Sendai 89ers.
Free throws proved to be a big difference in the final outcome. Sendai (6-6) was 9-for-9 at the line, or 14 less points than the hosts with the game clock stopped.
Daniel Miller and Asahi Tajima both scored 19 points for the Levanga (4-8) at the Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center.
Takehiko Orimo scored 14 points and handed out three assists, Ryota Sakurai contributed 13 points, eight boards and four assists and Daisuke Noguchi had an 11-point effort. Miller hauled in a team-high 12 rebounds and added two assists and two blocks.
Hokkaido out-rebounded the visitors 44-28.
The Levanga put 25 second-quarter points on the board and held the 89ers to eight to take a 45-23 lead into halftime.
Takayuki Kumagai paced Sendai with 20 points, Dion Wright scored 16 and Masaharu Kataoka added 13.
Lakestars 76, Golden Kings 60
In Otsu, Shiga Prefecture, the hosts snapped a five-game losing streak and salvaged a series split against Ryukyu.
The Lakestars, who led 34-33 at halftime, took control of the game in the third quarter by outscoring the Golden Kings 21-7.
Julian Mavunga had 20 points, 14 rebounds and three assists for Shiga (2-10), while Daichi Tanaka sank four 3-pointers in a 16-point outing. Faye Samba finished with 14 points and six boards and David Weaver contributed 11 points and 10 rebounds.
The Lakestars dominated in the rebounding department (47-29 advantage over Ryukyu).
The Golden Kings (7-5) had only five assists in the series finale. Big man Lamont Hamilton had 13 points and Shuhei Kitagawa scored 10 points. Shigeyuki Kinjo and Shota Tsuyama both had eight points.
Ryukyu struggled to put points on the board. The Kings made 8 of 28 3s and converted 11 of 36 2-point attempts.
