Balanced scoring is a key ingredient for success during a 52-game season.

The Toyama Grouses provided a reminder of that fact in Saturday's bj-league series opener against the visiting Shinshu Brave Warriors.

Sam Willard scored 26 points and Joe Werner had 22 and four teammates also reached double figures in scoring as the Grouses cruised to a 108-88 triumph over the Brave Warriors in Imizu, Toyama Prefecture.

Toyama improved to 6-1; Shinshu fell to 2-3.

Reigning regular-season MVP Masashi Joho contributed 18 points and four assists for the hosts, with Keyon Carter adding 14 and Jamelle Horne and Takeshi Mito each scoring 11.

The Grouses sank 33 of 58 shots from inside the arc.

Werner hauled in a team-best 13 rebounds and Mito had five assists to lead the Grouses.

For the Brave Warriors, Carl Hall was the top scorer with 23 points on a 10-for-15 shooting night. Patrick Sanders had 20 points and Mohamed Abukar netted 18.

Toyama led 51-32 at halftime.

Wat's 89, Cinq Reves 79

In Tachikawa, Gyno Pomare's 22-point effort and Kenichi Takahashi's 11-point, 10-assist game sparked Aomori in a series-opening road win.

Kyle Richardson supplied 14 points for the Wat's (5-2) and Paul Williams scored 13.

Aomori finished with 26 assists and 11 turnovers.

For Tokyo (3-4), Jemal Farmer, a University of Arkansas product, scored a game-high 39 points, including six 3-pointers. Will Foster had 12 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks, while Cinq Reves guard Yuji Ide handed out nine assists.

Northern Happinets 82, Crane Thunders 77

In Akita, Richard Roby scored 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and Deshawn Stephens and Akitomo Takeno had 16 and 15 points, respectively, as the hosts topped Gunma.

Ruben Boykin chipped in with seven points, 11 boards and seven assists for Akita (5-2).

Marcus Morrison and Carlos Dixon paced the Crane Thunders (0-5) with 16 points apiece. Yosuke Sugawara sank 3 of 4 3s in an 11-pont effort, while ex-NBA big man Melvin Ely had 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Dixon had a game-high four steals.

Albirex BB 89, Firebonds 77

In Niigata, Patrick Sullivan rang up 24 points on 11-for-15 shooting with 11 rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks in a banner performance for the victorious hosts.

Teammate Thomas Kennedy canned four 3s in a 23-point night. Yuichi Ikeda scored 14 points for Niigata (5-2), while Stephan Van Treese had 13 points and 12 boards. Hirotaka Kondo dished out nine assists.

The Albirex outscored the Firebonds 30-14 in the third quarter.

For Fukushima (1-6), Verdell Jones III had 25 points and nine assists, Atsushi Nogami scored 14 and Masaya Karimata and James Hughes both had 12.

The Firebonds, a first-year franchise, have lost five straight games.

Niigata had a 22-4 edge in free-throw attempts.

Big Bulls 81, B-Corsairs 71

In Ayase, Kanagawa Prefecture, Scootie Randall's game-high 24 points sparked Iwate in a well-rounded victory over Yokohama.

Veteran sharpshooter Wayne Arnold chipped in with 17 points and Lawrence Blackledge stuffed the stat sheet with 14 points, nine assists, seven rebounds, four steals and a block for the Big Bulls (6-1), and Hayato Kantake had 12 points. Iwate made just six turnovers and chalked up 28 assists, including Tsubasa Yonamine's eight.

Warren Niles scored 19 points for the B-Corsairs (3-4), Dzaflo Larkai had 14 and Wayne Marshall 12.

Golden Kings 66, Hannaryz 56

In Muko, Kyoto Prefecture, defending champion Ryukyu held the hosts to 10 fourth-quarter points to secure a victory.

In this low-scoring duel, neither team scored 20 points in any of the four quarters, but the Golden Kings (6-1) had 19 in both the third and fourth.

Kyoto (6-1) scored 28 second-half points.

The game was tied 28-28 at halftime.

Draelon Burns paced the Kings with 19 points, Narito Namizato had 16 points and six assists and Anthony McHenry added 10 points. Anthony Kent and Morihisa Yamauchi each made three steals.

Shun Watanuki led the Hannaryz with 20 points and David Palmer added 11. Reggie Warren grabbed 14 rebounds.

Kyoto missed 13 of 14 3-point shots.

89ers 87, Broncos 66

In Sendai, Kejuan Johnson scored 20 points and Adrian Moss provided 12 points and 15 rebounds in his first game for the 89ers in a runaway win over Saitama.

Wendell White finished with 16 points off the bench for Sendai (4-3), and Fumiya Sato drained 3 of 4 3s in a 15-point outing. Takehiko Shimura had five assists and three steals.

For the Broncos (0-7), Gary Johnson scored 23 points and Brian Ormon had 21. Junya Masumoto added 17 points.

Saitama, which had 20 turnovers, shot 2-for-16 from beyond the arc and 14-for-31 at the charity stripe.

Evessa 85, Susanoo Magic 77

In Osaka, Seth Tarver and Shota Konno combined for 36 points and Shunki Hatakeyama dished out eight assists as the Evessa beat winless Shimane.

Tarver paced the hosts with 19 points, followed by Konno's 17, while Joshua Dollard added 14 and Hatakeyama 13.

Osaka canned 11 of 19 3s.

Joe Chapman scored 26 points with five assists for the Susanoo Magic (0-7) and Edward Yamamoto had 15 points.

The Evessa had 29 fourth-quarter points and held the visitors to 16.

HeatDevils 88, Five Arrows 86 (OT)

In Bungo-ono, Oita Prefecture, led by Todd O'Brien's 22-point performance and Drew Barham's 20, the HeatDevils prevailed in overtime against Takamatsu.

Kellen Thornton added 15 points and Taishiro Shimizu contributed nine points, four assists and four steals for Oita (2-5). Hiroki Oshiro supplied eight points, 10 boards and seven assists.

For the Five Arrows (2-5), Dexter Lyons scored a team-high 22 points on his 33rd birthday. Hiroyuki Kikuchi had 13 points.

Takamatsu committed 20 turnovers.

Phoenix 88, Rizing 76

In Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture, Mo Charlo led all players with 25 points and raked in 10 rebounds as Hamamatsu Higashimikawa improved to 6-1, staying even with Kyoto and Ryukyu for most wins in the Western Conference.

Jermaine Green had 16 points for the Phoenix, Toshifumi Kawamitsu pumped in 12 and Olu Ashaolu had 11. Nile Murry scored nine points.

Cohey Aoki paced Fukuka (2-5) with 18 points, Kirk Van Slyke scored 15, Greg Logins had 14 and Josh Peppers 10.

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Former Tokyo Apache and NBA big man Jeremy Tyler will play for the Chinese Basketball Association's Shanxi Zhongyu Brave Dragons during the upcoming season, according to published reports.

Tyler was released by the Los Angeles Lakers earlier this week.

Since his one-season stint with the now-defunct Apache (2010-11), the 23-year-old has played for the Golden State Warriors, Atlanta Hawks and New York Knicks.

He was a second-round draft pick of the Charlotte Bobcats in 2011, and traded to Golden State on draft day. He has also played in the NBA Development League and in Israel.