BRYAN Bagunas drilled 28 points as Oita Miyoshi stunned the third-seeded Panasonic in five sets, while Marck Espejo only played in the first set but FC Tokyo still halted its three-game skid in Japan V.League men’s division on Saturday.
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Bagunas fired 25 kills, a pair of blocks and an ace to power the Weisse Adler in upsetting the Michal Kubiak-less Panasonic Panthers, 35-33, 21-25, 26-24, 18-25, 16-14, at the Panasonic Arena.
The National University standout delivered the big blows, hitting 25-of-40 in attacks to withstand a strong Panasonic side, which fought back from a 1-2 match deficit even without its import.
Venezuelan Emerson Rodriguez, who struggled in the previous matches, also shone with 21 points. Kota Yamada scored 19 from 14 attacks, three aces and a block.
Shodai Abe was also instrumental with 12 markers, while Takashi Kawaguchi added 10 as Oita Miyoshi scored its second straight victory with an improved 4-13 record still in the ninth place.
Panasonic Panthers missed their star import Kubiak, dropping to 10-7 still in the third place with Tatsunori Otsuka leading the charge with 20 points off 16 spikes, three blocks and an ace.
Issei Otake scattered 14 kills, a pair of blocks and an ace to finish with 17 points, while Kunihiro Shimizu and Kenyu Nakamoto had 13 and 12, respectively.
Meanwhile, Espejo only played in the first set but FC Tokyo still beat VC Nagano, 26-24, 25-14, 22-25, 25-14, at the Sumida City Gymnasium.
The five-time UAAP MVP only saw very limited action with a scoreless outing but Norwegian import Jonas Kvalen stepped up big time for Tokyo with 23 points built on 19 spikes, two blocks, and as many as aces.
Hideyuki Kuriyama chipped in 10 markers as FC Tokyo improved to 5-8 in the eight place, while sending Nagano to its 16th loss in 17 matches despite the 29-point explosion of Rivan Nurmulki.
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