Simple arithmetic played a part in the Niigata Albirex BB's 100-82 road victory over the Sendai 89ers on Thursday.
Niigata (11-6) canned 12 of 28 3-pointers and held Sendai to 6-for-22 from beyond the arc. Those extra points proved to be a big factor for the visitors.
Shuhei Komatsu, the bj-league's 2011-12 Sixth Man of the Year, led the Albirex's 3-point attack, knocking down 5 of 11 in a 15-point game. Nile Murry was 2-for-3 from beyond the arc and also scored 15, as did big man Chris Holm, who pulled down 15 rebounds and handed out seven assists. Yuichi Ikeda scored 14 points and Yuki Sato had eight points, with six coming on a pair of 3s.
Sendai trailed 47-39 at the half. Both teams had 19 third-quarter points before Niigata outscored the hosts 34-24 in the final period to earn the victory.
Kevin Coble paced the 89ers (5-10) with 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Sam Willard added 10 points and 15 boards after missing both games last weekend against the Chiba Jets. Takuya Komoda scored 21 points for the hosts and Takehiko Shimura dished out 12 assists. Yasuaki Arai had nine points and Karron Clarke scored eight.
Sendai power forward Sam Coleman fouled out after playing 4:56.
The 89ers have lost three in a row.