After a 25-point setback in the series opener, the Osaka Evessa went back to the drawing board before Sunday's rematch.

Bench boss Dai Oketani scrapped the man-to-man defense and employed the zone defense for Osaka's second weekend encounter with the Sunrockers Shibuya.

The move paid off as the Evessa reduced the hosts' scoring total by 30 points in a 78-61 triumph at Aoyama Gakuin University Memorial Hall.

Neither team shot the ball very well. Osaka (13-10) converted 40 percent of its attempts (28-for-73), but shooting guard Takuya Soma had the hot hand from 3-point land, knocking down 5 of 9 shots en route to a game-high 16 points.

Soma, who moved quickly with or without the ball to produce good looks for his perimeter shots, canned four 3s in the first half, helping set the tone for the pivotal second quarter, when the Evessa raced out to a 39-20 lead, their largest of the game, thanks to a 14-0 run.

The Sunrockers (12-11) shot 30.6 percent for the entire game, including 25.7 percent, or 9-for-35 in the opening half. Overall, they made 8 of 33 3s and 14 of 39 2s. (For the game, only Aki Chambers shot above 50 percent from 2-point range, 2-for-3.)

Shibuya coach BT Toews expressed disappointment in his team's performance.

"Two completely different teams from yesterday and today. The question is why," Toews said, speaking to reporters after the blowout loss. "To lose the turnovers and rebounds and not just one or two players but everybody shoot so poorly is disappointing, and there's lots of responsibility to go around, including my own."

Oketani credited his players for better communication and defensive energy in the series finale, citing those factors as keys to victory.

Former NBA center Josh Harrellson had 12 points and 12 rebounds and Xavier Gibson put 10 points on the board and collected 10 boards to complete the team's second double-double of the afternoon. Shota Konno and newcomer Richard Roby each had 11 points. Floor leader Hiroyuki Kinoshita added seven points and dished out a game-high five assists.

"It was a good performance, I think," Oketani said of Kinoshita.

The Evessa coach said Kinoshita is a well-liked player who is determined to make an impact and contribute by working hard, confirming that his performance Sunday was what he expects from him.

Roby, the former Akita Northern Happinets star who made his Evessa debut on Saturday (two points in 10-plus minutes), added five rebounds and a steal in just under 11-and-a-half minutes of court time.

The Sunrockers trailed 39-25 after two quarters, but never mounted a big comeback in the second half. They got as close as 11, trimming the margin to 63-52 on a Yuki Mitsuhara 3-pointer with 5:51 remaining.

Osaka led by double digits for the entire second half.

"Today we just tried to kind of focus on playing together, playing our basketball, not letting them dictate how we play," said Harrellson, a University of Kentucky alum. "Today we did a great job of that. Everybody stepped up and played well. ... It was just a great team win, a great team effort, and hopefully moving forward we have the same effort from everybody."

After deciding to switch to zone defense for Sunday's game, Oketani told reporters that Shibuya's in-the-paint scoring and transition scoring were two focal points for his defenders. The Sunrockers had 34 points in the lane in the opener and also scored 15 fast-break points in that game.

"Yesterday we had a big lapse in communication," Harrellson admitted, "and they had a lot of easy baskets where we didn't communicate, a lot of slips to the basket where no one was helping, and today we tried to control that.

"Everybody was talking, we were switching. We were just playing aggressive. We had each other's back by communication and that's what we have to do every game. So today we limited them to a lot of tough shots, a lot of tough, contested shots, and the outcome was in our favor tonight."

But in the opening quarter it was anybody's game, and Ira Brown's three-point play trimmed the visitors' lead to 17-15 to close out the opening period.

In the second quarter, Shibuya's Chad Posthumus nailed a free throw at the 8:05 mark to pull his team within 19-18.

Moments later, Yuto Otsuka's baseline jumper brought the Sunrockers within 25-20.

And then the Evessa, especially Soma, heated up. He buried a 3 from the left wing to ignite the aforementioned 14-0 spurt. Captain Konno followed with another 3, his from the right corner, that increased the Osaka advantage to 31-20.

"We let Soma get loose," Toews said later, adding, "Yesterday we did a good job of containing him, and once that got loose the execution of our defensive game plan broke down."

The Evessa lead reached 17 when Kinoshita flushed a 3-ball from the right wing, and Gibson unleashed a forceful jam on a muscular drive inside, prompting Toews to call a timeout with 2:40 left before halftime after his team had yielded 14 unanswered points.

"When we lost control of the game defensively, it affected our offense against their zone," Toews said.

Conversely, with a scrappy mindset and a high-energy performance, the Evessa were the aggressor and capitalized on chasing after loose balls. Oketani described his players as "active" throughout the 40 minutes.

Four Sunrockers scored 10 points apiece: Mitsuhara, Taishiro Shimizu, Brown and R.T. Guinn.

Mitsuhara was the team leader in rebounds (12). Brown was first in assists (four). Brown and Leo Vendrame both made three steals.

Sunday's defeat signals that it's time for Toews and his team to regroup on offense. Or as he put it: "Of course against any zone you have to look inside-out, and we did but when we had some shots, we just missed too many shots and the zone became more and more compact."

He added: "So I feel I need to continue to prepare my team, especially against zone, find a way that we can balance the outside attack with the inside attack. And that's what we'll be working on for the next week or so."

Brave Thunders 81, Northern Happinets 69

In Akita, Kawasaki's strong start and impressive rebounding effort helped guide the club to its 12th consecutive win.

Ex-NBA pivotman Nick Fazekas scored a game-best 32 points and corralled 11 rebounds. Ryan Spangler added 15 points and 10 boards for the title-chasing Brave Thunders (20-3). Ryusei Shinoyama contributed nine points, five assists and three steals.

Deshawn Stephens scored 19 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for the Northern Happinets (6-17), who trailed 40-25 at halftime.

Akita's Kevin Palmer and Shigehiro Taguchi had 18 and 16 points, respectively, and Daichi Taniguchi chipped in with eight points, three blocks and two steals.

Kawasaki outrebounded the hosts 46-30.

Jets 85, NeoPhoenix 84

In Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture, Chiba made clutch shots in the game's final 24 seconds to pull off a dramatic victory, the team's 11th straight triumph.

San-en's Shingo Okada drained a jumper with 44 seconds remaining to give the hosts an 84-80 lead.

Yuki Togashi made two free throws with 24 seconds left to cut the lead to two. With 13 seconds left, big man Hilton Armstrong scored the go-ahead basket from inside, courtesy of a Togashi assist.

The down-to-the-wire finish, though, didn't overshadow forward Ryumo Ono's brilliant performance: 38 points buoyed by a 7-for-9 effort from beyond the 3-point arc.

Togashi sparked the Jets (16-7) with 22 points, including 8-for-8 at the foul line and seven assists. He also knocked down four 3s. Michael Parker had nine points and two blocks and Armstrong finished with six points and 12 rebounds.

Above all, the NeoPhoenix (12-11) blew its chance of victory at the free-throw line, making just 10 of 22 shots.

Robert Dozier and Okada each scored 16 points for the hosts, while Josh Childress had 15 points, but only 1-for-7 at the line, with eight rebounds. Olu Ashaolu chipped in with 14 points and four assists, while Shuto Tawatarai had 11 points.

Hannaryz 71, Alvark 67

In Tokyo, Kyoto overcame an eight-point deficit with an impressive run to close out the game, salvaging a series split.

The Alvark led 65-57 with 5:31 remaining.

Power forward Kevin Kotzur initiated the Hannaryz rally with a jumper at the 5:18 mark. Kotzur led Kyoto (11-12) with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Genki Kojima and Yusuke Okada both scored 11 points for the visitors, Hayato Kawashima scored nine points and Marcus Dove provided eight points, seven rebounds and three blocks.

For Tokyo (17-4), Troy Gillenwater had 20 points, Zack Baranski and Diante Garrett had 11 apiece and Daiki Tanaka netted nine.

Kotzur commended his team for its strong defensive effort in crunch time.

"Today's game was a tough one, but we were able to execute down the stretch and string together some (defensive) stops at the end to pull it out," Kotzur told The Japan Times. "I think our energy and will to win also helped with the victory today.

"This is a big confidence booster because we have had a lot of ups and downs this year. I think this win helps us feel more confident for the long haul, especially in a close game that come down to that defense stop that we need."

B-Corsairs 87, SeaHorses 71

In Yokohama, the hosts' scorching shooting carried them to a bounce-back victory over Mikawa.

The B-Corsairs (8-15) were 6 of 10 on 3s. They also shot 60.5 percent from 2-point range.

Jeff Parmer paced Yokohama with 20 points and contributed five rebounds, two assists and two blocks in a well-rounded performance. Frontcourt mate Jason Washburn finished with 15 points and seven rebounds. Takuya Kawamura scored 14 points and handed out four assists and Masashi Hosoya added 13 points.

The SeaHorses (17-6), who trailed 62-48 entering the fourth quarter, had 14 turnovers and seven assists.

Gavin Edwards notched a double-double (22 points, 10 assists) for Mikawa. Isaac Butts scored 13 points and hauled in nine boards. Makoto Hiejima matched Butts' scoring total.

Lakestars 79, Grouses 66

In Toyama, Yusuke Karino's 25-point performance ignited Shiga in a victory that gave it a weekend split.

Julian Mavunga chipped in with 17 points, six rebounds and six assists for the Lakestars (6-17) and Yosuke Sugawara had 12 points and six boards. David Weaver pulled down 10 rebounds.

Shiga outscored the hosts 40-26 in the second and third quarters.

Masashi Joho paced the Grouse (3-20) with 13 points. Sam Willard supplied 11 points and 10 rebounds and Naoki Uto, Yu Okada and Drew Viney all scored eight points. Viney also snatched 10 rebounds.

Toyama was held to 16-for-49 shooting from inside the arc.

Albirex BB 77, 89ers 76

In Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture, Albirex star Clint Chapman sank the first of two free-throw attempts with 24 seconds remaining in the game to account for the final point, giving the hosts their second triumph in as many days over Sendai.

After Chapman missed the second free throw, 89ers forward Wendell White grabbed the defensive rebounds, setting the stage for the game's final sequence.

With time winding down, guard Kaito Ishikawa fired up a 3-pointer that missed its target with 1 seconds left.

Chapman delivered a dynamic performance with 33 points, 17 rebounds and three blocks for Niigata (12-11). Davante Gardner contributed 15 points and 11 boards and Kimitake Sato scored 10 points, while Kei Igarashi added nine points and five assists.

White finished with a team-best 21 points and 15 boards for the 89ers. Center Tshilidzi Nephawe, who hails from South Africa, added 20 points and seven boards and Masaharu Kataoka had 19 points and four assists.

Brex 78, Golden Kings 71

In Okinawa City, ex-Phoenix Suns guard Yuta Tabuse had 22 points on 9-for-12 shooting and three assists and hot-starting Tochigi completed a weekend sweep of the Golden Kings and extended their victory streak to three.

Ryan Rossiter finished with 12 points, 17 rebounds, four assists and three steals for the Brex (17-4) and Jeff Gibbs, Hironori Watanabe and Kosuke Takeuchi each had nine points. Takeuchi hauled in 12 rebounds.

Tochigi took a 42-25 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Reyshawn Terry scored 13 points for the Golden Kings (10-13) and Shigeyuki Kinjo and Shuhei Kitagawa both had 10. Morihisa Yamauchi poured in nine points.

Second-division update: Here are the results of Sunday's games in the second flight: Fukushima Firebonds 87, Kagoshima Rebnise 85; Kumamoto Volters 61, Fighting Eagles Nagoya 59; Hiroshima Dragonflies 73, Bambitious Nara 70; Aomori Wat's 72, Tokyo Excellence 63; Kagawa Five Arrows 73, Iwate Big Bulls 68; Ehime Orange Vikings 94, Gunma Crane Thunders 69; Ibaraki Robots 60, Shinshu Brave Warriors 55; Shimane Susanoo Magic 65, Nishinomiya Storks 64; and Yamagata Wyverns 82, Earthfriends Tokyo Z 67.