Juan Gomez de Liaño played his best game in a Tokyo Z uniform. But it was not enough to lift the Earthfriends to the win column.
Tokyo Z could not sustain its fine start against Fukushima, falling 76-80 in the 2021-22 B.League Division II season, Saturday at the Tamura City General Gymnasium.
Fully recovered from a quad injury he sustained three weeks ago, the 6-foot-1 Filipino-Spanish combo guard delivered 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting. He also had nine assists, five rebounds, and three steals.
With Gomez de Liaño starting, Earthfriends raced to a 22-13 lead over the Firebonds.
Seeing their once-double digit lead go down to two entering the final frame, Tokyo Z succumbed to numerous turnovers. That led to an 11-0 Fukushima rally for a 65-56 lead for the hosts.
Shota Kanno then gained the hot hand for the Firebonds, draining back-to-back triples later on to give Fukushima a 71-58 lead midway through the last stanza.
Gomez de Liaño, Joshua Crawford, Eddy Norelia, Takumi Masuko, and Pat Andree all joined hands in giving Tokyo Z one last push, cutting the lead down to 79-76 with 14 ticks left. But a split on the stripe by Jason Washburn and a miss from downtown by Masuko sent Tokyo Z reeling to its ninth straight loss.
Fukushima, who rose to 5-4 in the east, was led by Erik Murphy’s 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting and seven rebounds.
Alex Murphy, on the other hand, had 18 points on a 7-of-12 shooting clip, while Washburn added 14 points.
Crawford was the top man for Tokyo Z with 21 points and 16 rebounds. Norelia was limited to just 12 points and nine rebounds, while Masuko chipped in 11 points.
The two squads face off again tomorrow at 12:30 PM.
