Dwight Ramos and Toyama were not able to sustain their 93-87 win yesterday, absorbing a 70-76 defeat at the hands of Mikawa in the 2021-22 B.League season, Sunday at Wing Arena Kariya.
The Grouses were up by as much as nine points in the third canto before Davante Gardner took charge, giving the Seahorses a 52-51 lead entering the final frame.
It was a nip-and-tuck affair from there with Dwight Ramos scoring on a jumper with his side a 58-57 lead with 6:53 left.
Down by one after a Bryce Johnson bucket with 5:14 left, Gardner sparked a 9-2 assault to gain a 70-64 cushion.
Naoki Uto tried to will the Grouses back but back-breaking buckets by Satoshi Nagano, Jarrod Uthoff, and Ryogo Sumino gave Mikawa the victory to go up to 15-13 in the standings.
Gardner came off the bench for this contest, putting up 27 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field with seven rebounds.
Sumino added 15 points while Nagano tallied 10 points, seven rebounds, three steals, and two assists. Uthoff, meanwhile, grabbed 12 rebounds to go along with nine points.
It was a sorry loss for Toyama, who fell to 11-19 in the standings.
Joshua Smith led Toyama once more with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Uto and Johnson got 12 and 10 points, respectively, with the latter also grabbing nine boards.
Ramos came off the bench anew, producing eight points. He had a foul-plagued game and was not on the court during the last few minutes of the tilt.
Up next for Toyama are Kiefer Ravena and Shiga on Wednesday at Ukaruchan Arena.
