The Tokyo Cinq Reves emerged victorious on Tuesday night by overcoming a five-point halftime deficit and seizing control of the game after the break.
Tokyo defeated the visiting Saitama Broncos 78-66 at Musashino General Gymnasium, outscoring them 31-14 in the pivotal third quarter.
Saitama (2-9 overall, 1-6 road) trailed 64-52 entering the final period and never caught up.
Ricky Woods paced Tokyo (3-6) with 27 points and 17 rebounds, Edward Morris had 16 points and 10 boards and Yuji Ide contributed 15 points, 11 rebounds, five steals and four assists for coach Motofumi Aoki's club. Morris had eight turnovers and Woods six.
Saitama's Michael Joiner, a Florida State alum, had a team-best 26 points and 10 boards. The Broncos' John Humphrey, who scored 15 points on 6-for-18 shooting, finished the bj-league series opener with seven steals. He also grabbed seven rebounds and dished out five assists.
Saitama has struggled in the rebounding department throughout the season. In this game, Tokyo hauled in 56 rebounds to Saitama's 39.
Akihito Inoue scored 10 points for Tokyo and knocked down a pair of 3-pointers. Cinq Reves big man Anthony Stover had five points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots. Shoya Uchimura handed out a season-high four assists for Tokyo.
The Broncos missed 19 of 23 3-point shots.
The teams square off again on Wednesday at 7 p.m.