Playing just eight players took a toll on Shinshu.
The Brave Warriors’ gallant stand fell short, suffering a 75-79 loss to Akita in the 2021-22 B.League season, Sunday at White Ring.
Despite playing without Yuta Okada, Louis Kurihara, and Tatsuya Nishiyama, coach Michael Katsuhisa still stuck to his big guns. He benched Fil-Japanese Matt Aquino and Yusuke Inoue in the contest.
Still, Shinshu put up a fight.
Down by as much as 17 points, 51-68, early in the final frame, Shinshu stormed back. They cut the lead down to four, 71-75, behind the duo of Anthony McHenry and Josh Hawkinson with 24 seconds left.
Though Noboru Hasegawa tried to stop the bleeding with two free throws, McHenry and Hawkinson continued to pour it on, slicing the lead to two, 75-77, with six seconds left. Hasegawa was steady once more in the charity line to seal the win for Akita, who rose to 5-6 in the east.
Hasegawa had 17 points for the Happinets, going seven-of-seven from the free throw line. He also had four assists and three steals.
Jordan Glynn led Akita with 23 points, eight rebounds, and two steals, while Takatoshi Furukawa added 13 points. Alex Davis also had eight rebounds, five assists, five points, and three steals.
Shinshu, who saw their four-game winning streak snapped to fall to 6-5 in the west, were led by Hawkinson who had 18 points and 10 rebounds.
McHenry had 15 points and nine rebounds, while Ko Kumagai got 15 points as well to go along with eight assists and four steals.
Wayne Marshall tallied 12 points but shot just 4-of-11 from the field. Reo Maeda had 19 points, six assists, and two steals.
Matt Aquino and Shinshu will head to San-En on Wednesday.
