After seeing their streak of three consecutive Final Four appearances halted by the Shiga Lakestars last season, the Kyoto Hannaryz avenged that series defeat over the weekend.

Kyoto, the Western Conference's No. 1 seed, eliminated Shiga from the playoffs on Sunday with an 88-77 Game 2 home win over the Lakestars at Hannaryz Arena in the bj-league's conference semifinal round.

The Hannaryz (45-11 overall) earned a 95-92 overtime victory in Saturday's series opener.

A day later, Tyren Johnson led Kyoto with 24 points on 10-for-15 shooting with three steals and two blocks as the hosts denied Shiga a return trip to the Final Four. Forward Kevin Kotzur contributed 20 points and 10 boards as the Hannaryz secured their fourth Final Four appearance in five seasons under bench boss Honoo Hamaguchi. Shingo Utsumi scored 13 points, Sunao Murakami had eight and Moses Ehambe chipped in with seven. Veteran swingman Kyosuke Setoyama supplied four points and three assists.

Kyoto's offense clicked in the rematch, with 27-for-44 shooting (61.4 percent) from inside the 3-point arc.

The Hannaryz took a 28-11 lead into the second quarter. Shiga's comeback attempt fell short in the fourth quarter despite 32 points in the final 10 minutes.

The Lakestars were held to 9-for-26 shooting on 3s.

Jeff Parmer paced Shiga (37-19) with 22 points, Julian Mavunga and Jamelle Horne scored 13 apiece and Yutaka Yokoe had 12.

"This weekend we were able to keep our poise and hit big shots when we needed in particular — Moses yesterday and Sunao both days," Kotzur said. "Today we were able to start very well in both the first and second half, and that was a big key today.

"We knew that Shiga was going to come out hard today, so when we got off to that good start it was great. We were then able to control the pace of the game."

Golden Kings 83, Evessa 72

In Okinawa City, super substitute Draelon Burns came off the bench and scored 21 points in 20 minutes and 43 seconds of court time as No. 2 seed Ryukyu held off longtime rival Osaka to secure a place in the Final Four for a record-tying sixth time.

The Evessa (37-19) captured league titles in the 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons and reached the Final Four three more times in succession. But with Sunday's win, Ryukyu matched Osaka's record for Final Four appearances.

The sixth-seeded Evessa, meanwhile, haven't advanced to championship weekend since league legend Lynn Washington's last full season (2010-11) with the team.

The Golden Kings (44-12) closed out the game with a dominating fourth quarter, outscoring the visitors 30-13.

The Kings' Ryuichi Kishimoto added 18 points and canned 4 of 8 3s for the hosts, big man Evan Ravenel had 14 points and 13 rebounds, Morihisa Yamauchi poured in 11 points and Shigeyuki Kinjo had seven. Team leader Anthony McHenry made an impact with 14 rebounds, five assists, four blocks and four points.

Ryukyu's outside shooting success (10 of 20 from 3-point range) opened up scoring chances on the inside.

For Osaka, which was held to 16-for-52 shooting from inside the arc, DeAngelo Hamilton had 20 points and Takuya Soma scored 17. Olu Ashaolu finished with 12 points and Narito Namizato added eight.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Grouses 92, Big Bulls 61

In Toyama, the top-seeded hosts completed a series sweep and booked a spot in the Final Four for the second time by routing Iwate.

Toyama, which has won 13 straight games, appeared in its first Final Four during the 2013-14 season.

Drew Viney paced the Grouses (43-13) with 20 points, knocking down 8 of 8 free throws. Best Five Team guard Masashi Joho had 19 points and made 8 of 11 foul shots, while Duke Crews chipped in with 18 points on 7-for-8 shooting from the field.

Toyama's balanced scoring helped spark the rout. The Grouses got nine points apiece from Takeshi Mito and Sam Willard, the latter also hauled in 15 rebounds. Daichi Tanaka added eight points.

Overall, Toyama controlled the boards and out-rebounded Iwate 51-32.

The Grouses were whistled for 13 fouls; the Big Bulls had 26.

For the Big Bulls, who finished 32-24, including the playoffs, under first-year coach Geoffrey Katsuhisa, Patrick Sanders had a team-high 15 points with seven rebounds, Abdullahi Kuso scored 10 points and Shota Onodera finished with nine points. Shinya Chiba added seven points.

Iwate forward Alandise Harris missed the playoffs due to a foot injury. The University of Arkansas product led the team in scoring (16.4 points per game) during the regular season.

"First off, Toyama deserves to be in the Final Four," Kuso told The Japan Times. "They were the better team. They played very hard and they played together on both days. As for us, I thought we showed plenty of courage, we played as hard as we always did.

"With our leading scorer unable to play in playoffs due to a foot injury and one of our starting forwards (Koji Nagata) injured as well, we knew it was gonna be a tall order to beat them."

Sanders reflected on the team's performance after the game.

"I think we hit a wall as a team," Sanders said. "We had some guys down, but kept fighting until the end, we overcame a lot to get this the point. Toyama really played well and had a good game plan."

Northern Happinets 92, 89ers 83

In Sendai, Texas A&M alum Ray Turner's 24-point, 16-rebound performance and Richard Roby's 22-point effort sparked No. 3 seed Akita in its triumph over the hosts.

Turner converted 9 of 12 shots from the field in the series finale.

Shigehiro Taguchi chipped in with 12 points and nine rebounds for the Northern Happinets, who advanced to the Final Four for the third straight season. Akita (39-17) earned title runner-up finishes in the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons.

Scott Morrison finished with nine points and Yuto Otsuka had seven for the visitors, who led 49-42 at halftime.

"(We) just wanted it," Roby told The Japan Times in a post-game interview. "We came out with great focus and fight and played a great series against a really good Sendai team."

For second seed Sendai (39-17), Terrance Shannon had 21 points and 12 rebounds and Fumiya Sato scored 15 points. Masaharu Kataoka supplied 14 points, while Jamal Boykin and regular-season MVP Wendell White each had 13 points. White dished out eight assists.

Final Four schedule: The playoff action for championship weekend is set to be held at Ariake Colosseum for the 11th consecutive spring. On Saturday, the Western Conference final (Kyoto vs. Ryukyu) is scheduled for a 1:10 p.m. tipoff, while the Eastern Conference final (Toyama vs. Akita) is set to start at 4:40 p.m.

Sunday's third-place game is slated to begin at 12:40 p.m., followed by the title game at 5:10 p.m.