Stanley Johnson waxed hot to tow AJ Edu’s Gunma Crane Thunders past Dwight Ramos’ Levanga Hokkaido, 98-81, in their Japan B.League’s preseason clash Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Gunma rushed to a double-digit lead as early as the first quarter and never looked back as they kept the pressure on for all four quarters.
Johnson tallied 23 points, five rebounds, three assists and an assist. Trey Johnson added 16 markers while Yuma Fujii had 14.
After leading by just three, 17-20, after a jumper by Shuto Ichiba, a 9-2 run capped by a Koh Flippin layup gave the Crane Thunders a 29-19 lead at the end of the first.
This set the tone for the rest of the way, as they kept their distance from their opponents.
Hokkaido trailed by 10, 53-63, at the halfway point of the third following a deuce by John Harrar.
But a 23-7 run capped by a layup by Kenny Asano made it an 86-60 advantage with nine minutes to go after a Jones trey.
And while Levanga tried to rally back, slicing the deficit to 14, 77-91, it was too big a deficit to storm back from.
Takuto Nakamura had 11 points for Gunma. Edu was held to just three points on 1-of-5 shooting, while hauling down seven rebounds and four assists.
Keisei Tominaga paced Hokkaido with 19 points. Ramos backstopped with 13 markers points on 4-of-7 shooting.
The two teams will face each other anew on Thursday.
Wednesday’s game was the first-ever international ‘home’ game of the Japan B.League in Manila.