• Toshiba forward Mamadou Diouf dunks in a 2015-16 regular-season game in Kawasaki. The Brave Thunders advanced to the NBL Finals on Monday with a 69-60 win over the Link Tochigi Brex in Game 3 of the playoff semifinals. | KAZ NAGATSUKA
    Toshiba forward Mamadou Diouf dunks in a 2015-16 regular-season game in Kawasaki. The Brave Thunders advanced to the NBL Finals on Monday with a 69-60 win over the Link Tochigi Brex in Game 3 of the playoff semifinals. | KAZ NAGATSUKA

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The Toshiba Brave Thunders defeated the Link Tochigi Brex 69-60 in the decisive third game of the playoff semifinals on Monday in Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, and advanced to the NBL Finals.

The Brave Thunders, the inaugural NBL champions in the 2013-14 season, will take on the Aisin SeaHorses in the title series.

Toshiba center Nick Fazekas led the game with 31 points and 20 rebounds. He was the only double-digit scorer for Toshiba.

The Brex had to play without their ace player, this season’s MVP Ryan Rossiter, who injured his right leg in Sunday’s Game 2. Big man Andrew Naymick had 15 points and 14 rebounds for Tochigi, which had the second-best record in the league at 43-11.

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