Kobe Paras, Niigata falter vs Tokyo for 6th straight loss

Kobe Paras and the Niigata Albirex BB failed to snap their long and painful losing streak as they fell to the Alvark Tokyo in another heartbreaker, 79-78, in the Japan B. League on Wednesday, October 27 at the Arena Tachikawa Tachihi.

Paras finished with another double-digit output in the losing effort, scoring 13 points on 5-of-12 shooting, to go with 3 steals, 1 rebound, and 1 assist as the Albirex BB have now lost six in a row and dropped further to 2-7 in the standings.

Trailing by 10 points, 64-74, with 4:35 left to play in the game, Tokyo suddenly flipped the switch and went on a huge 11-2 run to cut Niigata’s lead to just 1, 75-76, with 2:17 remaining.

Rosco Allen then came up with a much-needed three-point play for Niigata with 36 seconds left to put its lead back to three, 78-75, before Ryan Rossiter answered with his own basket with 26 seconds remaining.

With Niigata still leading by 1, 78-77, Allen then committed a costly turnover at the backcourt, which led to an easy wide-open layup by Rossiter to give Tokyo the lead, 79-78.

Niigata had one final chance to take their lead back and win the game with 20 seconds left, but Allen’s potential game-winning three-pointer fell short at the buzzer.

Alex Kirk topscored for Tokyo with 22 points, while Sebastian Saiz added 14 points in the victory.

Rossiter and Taiki Osakabe had 11 points apiece, while Daiki Tanaka also contributed 10 markers for Tokyo.

Allen finished with a game-high 28 points, to go with 9 rebounds and 4 assists, while Tshilidzi Nephawe chipped in 14 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists for Niigata in the loss.

The Scores

Tokyo 79 – Kirk 22, Saiz 14, Rossiter 11, Osakabe 11, Tanaka 10, Baranski 5, Ando 4, Taylor 2, Kikuchi 0.

Niigata 78 – Allen 28, Nephawe 14, Paras 13, Sato 10, Nohmi 8, Ayres 5, Okamoto 0, Hoshino 0, Ohya 0, Kimura 0, Ikeda 0.

Quarters: 18-19, 36-40, 55-63, 79-78.

– Rappler.com