ALL Toyama Grouses wanted for Christmas was a win, and an 89-77 victory did come their way at the expense of the Gunma Crane Thunders Saturday in the 2021-22 B.League season at Toyama City Gymnasium.
Joshua Smith uncorked 21 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, and one steal, while Julian Mavunga made timely hits down the stretch to cap off his 15 points, 10 dimes, and eight boards to make up for the seven turnovers he committed.
Dwight Ramos B.League news
Toyama used a 16-3 run to end the third quarter to erect a 67-55 lead, and even stretched that advantage to 13 points, 70-57, after a Dwight Ramos three with 8:31 left.
But Michael Parker kept the Crane Thunders in the game, cutting the lead down to eight, 85-77, in the final 1:02, before the Grouses secured key offensive boards that allowed them to ice the game at the charity stripe.
Keijuro Matsui also had 15 points and three rebounds, while Kevin Hareyama got 11 points and three boards off the bench for Toyama.
Ramos only had five points, three rebounds, and two steals in 22 minutes of action, but that was enough to halt the Grouses' two-game skid to improve to an 8-14 record.
Four players scored in double figures for Gunma (10-12), led by Aki Chambers' 18 points, five assists, and four rebounds.
Trey Jones had 17 points, six boards, five assists, and three steals, Kyle Barone tallied a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds, and Parker got 13 points, six boards, three assists, and three steals in the Crane Thunders' fourth straight defeat.
In second division action, Aomori Wat's were on the receiving end of a 64-40 decimation at the hands of the Saga Ballooners at Maeda Arena.
Saga kept Aomori in check for the first three periods, limiting it to single digit scoring to take a 51-23 lead heading into the payoff period.
That lead further grew to 35, 58-23, for the Ballooners which took their fourth straight win and sent the Wat's to their sixth consecutive defeat.
Reynaldo Garcia topped Saga (12-12) with 18 points, four steals, two rebounds, and two assists, as Myles Hesson got 13 points and 10 boards in the victory.
Aomori (2-22) banked on Renaldo Dixon's 12 points, five rebounds, and four steals, while Hayate Komasawa got 11 points, five boards, and three assists.
Kemark Carino went scoreless anew after missing all of his three shots, but did haul two rebounds and made one rejection in his 12 minutes of play.
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