Joshua Smith, balanced offensive attack lead Hannaryz past Evessa

by Ed Odeven
Staff Writer

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Dec 30, 2017

Kyoto Hannaryz big man Joshua Smith notched his 10th double-double of the season on Saturday afternoon against the Osaka Evessa.

Smith’s banner performance — 22 points on 8-for-10 shooting, 11 rebounds, two assists, one steal and block in 31 productive minutes — played a pivotal role in Kyoto’s road win over Kansai rival Evessa.

Led by Smith, the Hannaryz (16-12) dominated inside, outscoring the hosts 38-22 in the paint.

Playmaker Julian Mavunga ignited Smith and the Kyoto offense, finishing with 12 points and a game-high seven assists along with two blocks. Teammates Kevin Hareyama and Yuya Nagayoshi also both had 12 points, with Shun Watanuki contributing seven points and six assists.

Kyoto, which lost the series opener 82-60, shot 50.9 percent from the floor and held Osaka to 44.8 percent shooting.

Hannaryz coach Honoo Hamaguchi’s squad capitalized on its opportunistic defense, turning its takeaways into points (a 16-0 advantage against the hosts).

The 208-cm, 138-kg Smith is a big body for Kyoto in the low post, and he made a big impact in the series finale, including five offensive boards. A former Georgetown University player, Smith suited up for the NBA Rio Grand Valley Vipers, an NBA G League (formerly called the NBA Development League) team in the 2016-17 campaign, averaging 8.4 points and 4.8 boards in 44 games. This season, he’s averaging 14.5 points and 7.8 rebounds in 28 games (13 starts).

For the Evessa (8-20), Takuya Hashimoto was the leading scorer with 15 points and handed out five assists. David Wear and Gyno Pomare chipped in with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Shinnosuke Negoro and Soichiro Fujitaka both had seven points.

Kyoto led 41-31 at halftime and never trailed.

Diamond Dolphins 93, SeaHorses 79

In Nagoya, former bj-league MVP Justin Burrell was a potent force inside for the hosts in a convincing victory over Mikawa.

Burrell, who had a game-high 22 points on 11-for-13 shooting, paced the Diamond Dolphins.

Craig Brackins contributed 18 points and five assists for Nagoya (11-16) and Jerome Tillman had 13 points. Takaya Sasayama added 10 points and seven assists, while Seiya Funyu poured in 10 points and dished out four assists.

The Diamond Dolphins shot 56.5 percent from the floor; the SeaHorses made 43.1 percent.

Nagoya outscored the visitors 52-28 in the paint.

What’s more, the high-energy Diamond Dolphins dominated on the boards, outrebounding the visitors 43-28.

A 12-0 run gave Nagoya its biggest lead (87-70) of the game in the fourth quarter.

Daniel Orton had a team-best 16 points for Mikawa (21-6) and Kosuke Kanamaru scored 15 points. J.R. Sakuragi had 13 points and eight rebounds, Ryoma Hashimoto finished with 12 points and four assists and Makoto Hiejima had 11 points.

Grouses 83, Storks 76

In Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, rising star Naoki Uto made the most of his scoring chances throughout the series finale as Toyama rebounded from a loss on Friday against the hosts.

Uto scored 25 points, including 11 of 14 from the free-throw line, and hauled in nine rebounds for the Grouses (13-15).

Sam Willard added 19 points and seven boards for Toyama, which took a 45-24 lead into the second half. Yuki Ueta made four 3-pointers in a 14-point outing and Yuto Otsuka was 4-for-4 from the field en route to 10 points along with a pair of blocks. Takeshi Mito supplied nine points, three assists and two steals, while Drew Viney contributed six points, seven assists and five rebounds.

Trailing 69-44 after three quarters, Nishinomiya (6-22) rallied in the final stanza. Draelon Burns, who finished with 29 points, six boards, five assists and five steals, had 16 fourth-quarter points. Burns was 9 of 11 at the foul line in the fourth.

Noriaki Dohara and Connor Lammert both scored 16 points for the Storks, who shot 33.8 percent from the field.

Lammert led Nishinomiya in rebounds (nine).

Brex 99, Albirex BB 80

In Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture, Tochigi moved closer to .500 with a well-rounded victory over the hosts and completed a series sweep.

Star forward Ryan Rossiter led the defending champion Brex (13-15) with 23 points, eight rebounds and eight assists plus two steals. Shuhei Kitagawa sank 4 of 6 3s in an 18-point, three-steal performance for Tochigi, which took a 48-30 advantage into the locker room at halftime. Former Atlanta Hawk Cedric Bozeman had 15 points on 4-for-4 shooting from the field and 6 of 7 at the line. Kosuke Takeuchi chipped in with eight points and Yusuke Endo scored seven.

Tochigi’s efficient effort included 29 assists against six turnovers, which sealed its third victory in a row.

The Brex also capitalized on Niigata miscues. They had 18 points off turnovers, while the Albirex had three.

Tochigi dressed 12 players and 11 of them scored. Emotional leader Jeff Gibbs, appearing in his fiftth game this season, continued his inspired play of late with four points, six boards, four assists, two steals and a block in 17-plus minutes.

Davante Gardner paced Niigata (10-18) with 34 points and 15 rebounds. Austin Dufault and Kei Igarashi added 16 and 10 points, respectively, for the Albirex, who have lost four straight. Igarashi doled out eight assists. Masashi Joho had nine points and five assists in the loss.

B-Corsairs 80, Lakestars 74

In Otsu, Shiga Prefecture, five Yokohama players scored in double figures as the visitors seized control in the fourth quarter to secure a comeback win.

The B-Corsairs (8-20) completed a two-game sweep after trailing 65-56 entering the fourth quarter in their final game of 2017.

A 9-0 run, which was capped by a Kazutaka Takashima jumper, gave Yokohama a 69-68 lead with 5:18 remaining.

Takuya Kawamura scored 17 points and handed out five assists for the B-Corsairs, who are 5-8 in away games. Jeff Parmer contributed 14 points, seven boards, five assists and three steals. Hasheem Thabeet had 14 points and 11 rebounds and Ryo Tawatari and Masashi Hosoya each had 11 points, with Hosoya also dishing out six assists.

Faye Samba led Shiga (11-17) with 18 points. D’or Fischer filled the stat sheet with 15 points, 14 rebounds, seven assists, four blocks and three steals. Yusuke Karino poured in nine points and Narito Namizato had eight points and nine assists.

The Lakestars shot 37.5 percent from the floor and dropped their third consecutive game.

Levanga 69, NeoPhoenix 66

In Sapporo, the hosts maintained their poise and held on for a narrow victory over San-en, extending their winning streak to four games.

Hokkaido’s Takehiko Orimo sank a pair of free throws with 11 seconds left to account for the game’s final points.

It was the second narrow victory for coach Kota Mizuno’s club in as many days. The Levanga triumphed 69-64 in the series opener.

Marc Trasolini had 13 points and eight boards for the Levanga (16-12). He led all players in steals (two) and blocks (two). Teammate Zen Maki scored 12 points and Daniel Miller had 10. Orimo and Daisuke Noguchi poured in nine and eight points, respectively.

Hokkaido had solid across-the-board passing, getting two or more assists from six players. Kohei Sekino dished out a team-best four assists. Asahi Tajima, Trasolini and Ryohei Kawabe all had three assists.

Wendell White had 14 points to lead the NeoPhoenix (13-15). and Junki Kano and Atsuya Ota each had nine points. Tatsuya Suzuki provided eight points and seven assists and Hayato Kawashima matched Suzuki’s scoring total.

San-en shot 21-for-57 from the floor.

Brave Thunders 75, Sunrockers 61

In Tokyo, Naoto Tsuji sank four 3-pointers in the decisive third quarter and Kawasaki cruised to its fifth straight win.

The game was tied 33-33 at halftime. Shortly thereafter, the Brave Thunders (17-10) embarked on a game-changing 14-0 run to pull ahead 49-40.

Shibuya trailed 61-48 after three quarters.

Tsuji finished with 23 points, including 6 of 10 from long range. Teammate Nick Fazekas had 17 points, 13 rebounds and three steals and Josh Davis and Yuma Fujii both scored nine points. Ryusei Shinoyama chipped in with eight points and five assists.

Kawasaki outrebounded the hosts 43-36.

The Brave Thunders made 10 of 22 3s and held the Sunrockers to 3 of 16.

Robert Sacre paced Shibuya (18-9) with 17 points and Manato Kikuchi scored 13. Josh Harrellson added 10 points and 10 boards and Yuki Mitsuhara scored eight. Morihisa Yamauchi contributed six points and six assists and Leo Vendrame registered five assists.

Second-division update

Here are the results of Saturday’s B2 games:

Five Arrows 84, Rizing Zephyr 83

89ers 88, Wat’s 86

Northern Happinets 85, Samuraiz 76

Firebonds 73, Wyverns 62

Bambitious 69, Brave Warriors 67

Orange Vikings 93, Fighting Eagles 82

Volters 83, Big Bulls 52*

Dragonflies 79, Robots 72

*Iwate has dropped 21 straight games, a B. League record.

Second-division standings