Deshawn Stephens scored a team-high 24 points on 9-for-11 shooting and five teammates reached double figures as the Akita Northern Happinets rolled to a 116-86 road victory over the Rizing Fukuoka on Friday night.

Akita (9-2 overall, 6-1 on the road) led 33-15 after one quarter and 61-41 at halftime.

The Northern Happinets shot 32-for-44 from inside the arc and sank 13 of 21 3-pointers in Kama, Fukuoka Prefecture.

Akita's Richard Roby poured in 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and Yuto Otsuka and Akitomo Takeno both scored 16 points, the latter dishing out a team-best six assists. Ruben Boykin added 14 points and five assists and Kenta Tateyama had 12 points. Seven Happinets players had two more more assists on the night.

Josh Peppers was Fukuoka's top scorer with 30 points, Kirk Van Slyke had 19 and Cohey Aoki 13.

The Rizing fell to 2-9, the second-worst record in the 10-team Western Conference.

Fukuoka coach James Duncan said his team was unable to play at a "continuously high level of defense."

On the other hand, Akita bench boss Makoto Hasegawa said "putting pressure on defense led to good offense."

Both teams finished with 36 rebounds. The Rizing pulled down 21 offensive boards; the Happinets had seven — on a night when only 20 of their shots didn't find the bottom of the net.

Personnel moves: The Saitama Broncos on Friday announced the addition of 200-cm forward Ari Stewart. The move, reported by The Japan Times on Oct. 30, is no official.

Stewart began his college career at Wake Forest, then played at the University of Southern California.

The 24-year-old fills a roster spot vacated by forward Jon Ekey, who suited up for Saitama (0-10) for the season's first four games. He averaged 11.3 points and 5.0 rebounds. ...

Guard Jermaine Dixon has been released from his contract by the Shinshu Brave Warriors, the Eastern Conference club said on Friday.

Dixon is on the move to a team in Europe, basketball sources have told The Japan Times. Details were unavailable at press time.

In seven games for Shinshu, Dixon averaged 6.6 points and dished out 33 assists against eight turnovers. He shot 4-for-20 from 3-point range and 7-for-26 from inside the arc.

The 27-year-old suited up for the Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix from 2010-12, including the team's second championship season. The University of Pittsburgh product also played for the Gunma Crane Thunders (2012-13) and Hamamatsu (2013-14) before joining Shinshu.

Shinshu has a bye week and returns to the court against the visiting Takamatsu Five Arrows on Oct. 15-16.