To open the calendar year, Kemark Carino still saw limited playing time while Aomori’s woes continued.
The Wat’s were dealt a 75-86 loss by Fukuoka in the 2021-22 B.League Division II season, Sunday at Aomori Prefectural Budo-kan.
Despite a strong start that saw them lead 23-18, Aomori faltered in the second stanza. They put up just 10 points on 4-of-17 shooting from the field.
On the other end, Jerome Jordan powered the Rising Zephyr in the same quarter, scoring nine of their 22 points.
It was all but academic by the third quarter. The duo of Taisei Shirato and Gerald Beverly powered Fukuoka to a 33-point quarter to take a commanding 73-51 lead heading into the final 10 minutes of the contest.
The Rising Zephyr went up to 12-15 while handing Aomori its ninth straight loss, dropping to a league-worst 2-25.
Fukuoka had five players score in double-digits with Stedmon Lemon finishing with 15 points and seven rebounds. Both Jordan and Toshio Kan had 13 points, while Shirato and Gerald Beverly added 12 points apiece.
Renaldo Dixon led Aomori with 26 points and nine rebounds, while Hiroki Usui tallied a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Hayate Komasawa added 17 points on 6-of-20 shooting as well.
Kemark Carino played just three minutes in the game, going scoreless while grabbing one rebound.
The two squads meet again tomorrow.
