The Japan men's national basketball team dropped its first two games at the 36th annual William Jones Cup tournament in Taipei over the weekend.
On Sunday, Iran put on a rebounding clinic (65-22 edge) and defeated Japan 79-72 in overtime.
NBA hopeful Yuki Togashi led Japan with 16 points and five assists. He shot 2-for-7 from 3-point range and 4-for-6 from inside the arc while converting both of his free-throw attempts. The 167-cm guard added four rebounds and a pair of steals in 35-plus minutes.
Iran had 33 offensive rebounds and held Japan to five.
The Taiwan A squad beat Japan 88-77 on Saturday. Yang Chin-min paced the hosts with 27 points and buried 5 of 11 3s, and also converted 6 of 7 2-point shots. Teammate Liu Cheng poured in 14 points. (Taiwan entered a "B" team in the tournament, too.)
Togashi scored a team-best 14 points on 4-for-11 shooting from the field with five assists for Japan. He had two steals and played a team-high 27-plus minutes.
The 21-year-old Togashi spent the past two seasons with the bj-league's Akita Northern Happinets, and led the league in assists (7.9 per game) for the 2013-14 season. He played for the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA's Las Vegas Summer League last month.