A slow start spelled trouble for the Rizing Fukuoka on Friday night.
The end result? A 95-85 loss to the Shiga Lakestars, who earned a two-game sweep in the bj-league series.
The Rizing trailed 27-15 after the opening quarter and 51-33 at halftime. They scored 30 points in the third period, but still trailed by 14 points entering the fourth.
Yu Okada paced Shiga (24-14) with 23 points and shared the team lead in steals (four) with Masahiro Kano. Ray Nixon added 21 points for the Lakestars, including four 3-pointers in Fukuoka.
Nixon canned 12 3s in the series.
Shiga's Jeff Parmer chipped in with 14 points, six assists and five rebounds, while Terrance Woodbury and Chris Holm both scored 11 points and Yutaka Yokoe finished with 10.
At the free-throw line, it was nearly an identical game for the rivals. Shiga made 25 of 32; Fukuoka sank 25 of 31.
From inside the 3-point arc, the Lakestars were far more efficient, shooting at a 54.8 percent clip (23-for-42). Fukuoka made 15 of 34 (44.1 percent).
Josh Peppers led the Rizing (10-30) with 23 points, 11 rebounds and five assists. He also had a team-high eight turnovers.
Kirk Van Slyke added 15 points for Fukuoka and John Humphrey scored 14. Hajime Ono finished with 12 points and three steals and Cohey Aoki had a 10-point performance.