FUKUSHIMA Firebonds avoided a late game meltdown to escape the cellar dwelling Earthfriends Tokyo Z, 80-76, Saturday in the B.League second division at Tamura City General Gymnasium.
Erik Murphy captained the home team's second half turnaround, dropping eight of his 21 points in the fourth quarter as Fukushima used a 17-2 barrage to rake a 71-58 lead with 6:01 remaining.
Tokyo Z, however, kept clawing back, with Marc Eddy Norelia's freebies cutting the lead down to just three, 79-76 with 14.6 seconds left.
Prayers seemingly were answered for the Earthfriends as Jason Washburn muffed both of his free throws, but a lane violation was called against the visitors that led to Washburn draining the insurance freebie with 10.1 ticks left.
Juan Gomez de Liano B.League news
Juan Gomez de Liano saw his near-double-double efforts of 15 points, nine assists, five rebounds, and three steals go to waste anew as Tokyo Z stayed winless at 0-9.
It was a 13-point collapse on the part of the Earthfriends after leading, 22-9 early on and even held an 11-point edge, 49-38, midway through the third period.
But the Firebonds roared back using a 16-3 barrage to take the 54-52 lead late in the frame, before staging another 17-2 run to erect a 71-58 lead with 6:01 left on the clock.
Murphy shot 8-of-13 from the field, to go with eight rebounds and two assists, as fellow import Alex Murphy had 18 points and five boards to his name.
Washburn also had his share with 14 points and five rebounds, while Shota Kanno made three treys for his 10 for Fukushima, which rose to a 5-4 record.
Tokyo Z relied on Joshua Crawford's 21 points, 15 rebounds, and four assists, as Norelia got 12 points, nine boards, two assists, and two steals in the defeat.
The two teams square off again on Sunday.
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