Brex overcome SeaHorses star Davante Gardner's 40-point effort to win series opener
The Utsunomiya Brex overcame SeaHorses Mikawa newcomer Davante Gardner's game-high 40 points to earn a 92-86 series-opening home win on Saturday. Ryan Rossiter paced the Brex (4-2) with 20 points, 14 rebounds, seven assists and three steals. Five teammates also scored in double figures: Makoto Hiejima, ...
Key names playing in new locales
Every top-flight team has signed new players and tweaked their rosters for the upcoming season, the B. League's fourth campaign. It'll take some time to get acclimated to all of the new faces in different places, but a handful of signings could prove to be ...
Star center Davante Gardner joins SeaHorses
In a major move that could shake up the balance of power in the B. League's Central Division, the SeaHorses Mikawa announced the acquisition of star center Davante Gardner on Thursday. Gardner spent the past three seasons with the Niigata Albirex BB, helping the club ...
Niigata hopes to take momentum into playoffs
Niigata Albirex BB coach Kazuhiro Shoji has been in an enviable position throughout the season. Since the Albirex opener in October, Shoji hasn't had a legitimate reason to make wholesale changes to his starting lineup. Instead, the names of veteran guards Kei Igarashi and Shinsuke Kashiwagi, ...
Niigata edges Fukuoka in overtime
The Niigata Albirex BB are tough to beat at home. Saturday's series opener against the Rizing Zephyr Fukuoka was a reminder of that fact. Davante Gardner, the B. League's leading scorer, and veteran teammates Lamont Hamilton and Kei Igarashi set the tone for Niigata in an ...
Niigata outplays Mikawa in series opener
Niigata Albirex BB star Davante Gardner received an abundance of Christmas presents from the SeaHorses Mikawa on Saturday afternoon. The B. League's leading scorer was repeatedly sent to the free-throw line, and the Marquette University product drained 12 of 13 attempts in an 86-77 road ...
Albirex soar past Happinets in series opener
The Niigata Albirex BB employed a three-guard lineup in Thursday's series opener against the Akita Northern Happinets. Veterans Kei Igarashi and Shinsuke Kashiwagi started alongside combo guard Ryonosuke Watanabe, and the trio scored a combined 28 points in Niigata's 84-74 victory. Igarashi, who played on Japan's ...
Niigata re-signs sharpshooter Davante Gardner; NeoPhoenix icon Masahiro Oguchi calls it quits
Davante Gardner is staying put with the Niigata Albirex BB. While the Central Division club missed the playoffs last season, the Marquette University alumni enhanced his reputation as an elite player in the B. League by leading the circuit in scoring (28.7 points per game). The ...
Jets place premium on continuity
After a championship runner-up finish and the team's first East Division regular-season title, the Chiba Jets Funabashi aren't making wholesale changes as they prepare for the upcoming season. Head coach Atsushi Ono, who has guided the Jets to 44- and 46-win campaigns in 2016-17 and ...
Clubs get back to business after All-Star Game
After the exciting national spotlight of the second annual B. League All-Star Game, it's back to business for the 36 teams that comprise the first and second divisions. As noted in a feature story in this newspaper last week, the Rizing Zephyr Fukuoka and Akita ...
Hometown hero Shintaro Kobayashi steals the show at B. League All-Star Game in Kumamoto
The players didn't take themselves too seriously during the second annual B. League All-Star Game. Instead of focusing on lock-down defense for the full 40 minutes, they aimed to please. They put the focus on scoring points in a hurry with an emphasis on razzle-dazzle ...
All-around team effort carries Brex past Albirex in comeback victory
The Tochigi Brex were a slow-starting team on Friday night. But they heated up in the second half against the host Niigata Albirex BB, turning the tide in their favor. The defending B. League champions rallied for a 71-62 victory in their series opener in Nagaoka, ...
