After just three years of existence, Nagasaki is heading to the B.League’s premier division.
The Velca was able to accomplish the feat after advancing to the B2 Finals, ousting the Altiri Chiba, 2-1, in the best-of-three series. The match-up culminated in a 91-86 win on Sunday at Chiba Chiba Port Arena.
Jordan Heading only played four minutes and 34 seconds in Game 3 due to a sprain.
Still, the rest of the Velca stepped up for their fallen shooter.
Matt Bonds tallied 33 points and six rebounds. Meanwhile, Jeff Gibbs tallied an all-around line of 15 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds.
Kanji Takahari also got 15 points, stepping in for Heading, who was averaging 13.4 points, 3.6 assists, and 2.8 rebounds prior to the contest.
Kei Sugimoto and Evan Ravenel finished with 24 and 23 points, respectively, with the latter also grabbing 16 boards. On the other hand, Brandon Ashley was limited to just eight points.
Nagasaki started off as a B3 team in 2021 before getting promoted to B2 a year later.
Also promoted to B1 is Saga. The Ballooners swept Nishinomiya in the other bracket.
Nagasaki and Saga will replace Shiga and Niigata in B1.
The B2 finals will take place this weekend.
