Bryan Bagunas and Oita Miyoshi pushed defending champion Suntory to the limit but ran out of gas, 20-25, 27-25, 27-25, 18-25, 12-15, Saturday in the 2021-22 V.League Division 1 men’s tournament at the Kumamoto Prefectural Gymnasium.
The 6-foot-5 Filipino import had a team-high 26 points built on 23 attacks and three kill blocks. He also connected on 23-of-48 of his spikes, good for 47.9 percent.
After giving up the first frame to the Sunbirds, the Weisse Adler hacked out a couple of 27-25 sets to move within a canto away from upsetting the defending champs.
However, Suntory bounced back in the fourth with a dominant 25-18 win before finishing Oita Miyoshi with a 15-12 deciding set.
Cuban import Alain de Armas led the Sunbirds with 28 points including three service aces.
Kosuke Hata followed with 16 points scattered through 12 spikes, three aces, and one block.
Chinese middle blocker Shikun Peng got 14 points to his name with four blocks.
Suntory improved to 9-4 while pulling Weisse Adler down to 2-11.
Oita Miyoshi shot itself on the foot, committing a whopping 37 errors compared to its foe’s 25.
Kota Yamada added 19 points for Weisse Adler while other import Emerson Rodriguez only had 13 points.
Oita Miyoshi looks to get one back against Suntory tomorrow, 12 pm.
