By sheer luck of the draw, B.League Division II players Kemark Cariño of Aomori and Juan Gomez de Liaño of Tokyo Z will meet their B1 counterparts in the third round of the 97th Emperor’s Cup.
Cariño will meet his fellow TMG client Dwight Ramos and Toyama to open the hostilities at the Hokkai Kitayell in Hokkaido at 9:00 AM.
The winner of the match will take on the winner of the Shimane Susanoo Magic-Ehime Orange Vikings clash on Sunday at 12:00 NN.
On the other hand, Juan Gomez de Liaño’s Tokyo Z will face Ray Parks and Nagoya over at Kishiwada City Gymnasium at 10:00 AM.
Juan GDL, along with Tsubasa Kurihara, Mark Burton, and Takumi Masuko, will sit out the contest due to injuries. The 6-foot-1 combo guard out of University of the Philippines is nursing a quad injury.
The winner of the Diamond Dolphins-Earthfriends game will face the winner of the Shinshu Brave Warriors-Bambitious Nara game on Sunday at 12:00 NN. Matthew Aquino plays for Shinshu.
Still at Kishiwada City Gym, Kobe Paras and Niigata will take the floor to face B2 team Passlab Yamagata Wyverns at 2:00 PM. Winner earns the right to face the victor of the Hiroshima Dragonflies-Sendai 89ers on Sunday also at 2:00 PM.
Javi Gomez de Liaño, meanwhile, will once again sit out Ibaraki’s game against Flying Eagles Nagoya on Saturday at Hokkai Kitayerull at 6:00 PM on Saturday.
The Ravena bros, on the other hand, are both in Tokyo. Kiefer’s Shiga and Thirdy’s San-En will play their games over at Arena Tachikawa Tachihi.
The Lakestars take on the Rizing Zephyr Fukuoka at 3:30PM on Sunday. Meanwhile, the NeoPhoenix face the Koshigaya Alphas at 10:30 AM.
The winning team between Shiga and Fukuoka will face the victor of the big game between Alvark Tokyo and Chiba Jets. The game will tip-off at 6:00 PM on Monday.
On the other hand, San-En or Koshigaya will Yokohama or Kagawa on the same day at 3:30 PM.
The Emperor’s Cup, or the All-Japan Basketball Championship, is a sudden death tournament that serves as the national championship for Japan. The results of the games will not reflect on the team’s B.League ledger.
The fourth round will take place on December 1. Then the quarterfinals are scheduled to take place on January 5.
The Final Four will be played on February 9, which sets up the March 12 finale.
Last year, the Kawasaki Brave Thunders defeated the Utsunomiya Brex in the Final.
