Niigata’s fiery endgame fell short, suffering a 70-79 loss to Shibuya in the 2021-22 B.League season, Saturday at Aoyama Gakuin Memorial Hall.
Crushing was the defeat for Albirex as they suffered their 14th straight loss, dropping to 2-15.
But this time though, Niigata put up a fight.
Niigata rallied from 18 points down with 1:31 left in the third quarter, cutting the lead down to 64-62 midway through the final frame.
Kosuke Ishii though restored order, second seven points in the final five minutes. He spearheaded a 12-4 rally to give the Sun Rockers a 76-66 lead late.
Ishii had 12 points in the game while James McAdoo got the same number of points.
Leading the way for Shibuya was Koyo Takahashi, who had 15 points and three steals, while Josh Harrelson added 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Shibuya went up to 13-4.
Rosco Allen paced Niigata with 24 points and 12 rebounds as Tshilidzi Nephawe added 13 points and seven boards.
Kobe Paras was limited to just three points on 1-of-6 shooting with three rebounds.
Niigata looks to get back at Shibuya tomorrow.
