NICK Fazekas showed the way as the Kawasaki Brave Thunders scored a 105-96 victory over the Ibaraki Robots on Saturday in the Japan B.League at Adastria Mito Arena.
The Japanese naturalized player kept Kawasaki afloat and anchored the visitors' 36-point fourth quarter flurry as he poured 30 points and 16 rebounds.
Yuma Fujii also made big plays in the payoff period, scoring eight of his 16 points as the Brave Thunders used a 10-3 run to grab a 79-78 lead at the 8:00 minute mark.
Kawasaki led 91-84 lead in the last 3:45, but Ibaraki rallied back, tying the game at 96 on a Kohei Fukuzawa trey with 1:04 left.
Takumi Hasegawa responded with a three on the other end, before Fazekas and Fujii put on the finishing touches as the Brave Thunders stretched their win streak to five and rise to 10-3.
Javi Gomez de Liano and the Ibaraki Robots fall to 2-11.
Pablo Aguilar scored 15 points, shooting 3 for 5 from deep, to go with eight rebounds. Matt Janning also made three treys and finished with 14 points, four boards, four assists, and two blocks, while Jordan Heath finished with 12 points and five rebounds.
It was a tough loss for Ibaraki, which showed great grit before faltering late and fall to a 2-11 card.
Eric Jacobsen led the Robots with 20 points and seven rebounds, as Marc Trasolini had 19 points, six boards, and six assists.
Filipino shooter Javi Gomez de Liano had his best game to date, firing 3-of-7 from rainbow country, finishing with 13 points and five boards, to go with an assist and a steal.
Ibaraki will try to score the upset in the rematch set for Sunday.
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