By Ivan Saldajeno
PASAY—The Gunma Crane Thunders dominated the overtime period to complete a 2-0 sweep of the Japan B.League Manila Games through a 101-91 win against Levanga Hokkaido on Thursday night at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
Unlike their first meeting the night before, Gunma needed to survive an explosion from Keisei Tominaga and the foul trouble on former NBA star Stanley Johnson to escape with the win.
Tominaga came alive for Hokkaido as it was on track to force a 1-1 split of the two-leg affair after erupting for 34 points.
However, the Japan national team standout fouled out with 2:35 left in regulation, which hurt the team's cause significantly.
With Hokkaido's main scorer gone, Gunma pulled away in the extension with a 12-2 run in the entire five-minute overtime period.
Takuto Nakamura led Gunma with 25 points on 11-for-17 shooting, five rebounds, three assists, and two steals.
Yuma Fujii added 18 points, going 5-for-10 from deep, three rebounds, two assists, and one steal, while AJ Edu improved from his Game 1 stats with nine points, going perfect from inside the arc at 3-for-3, nine rebounds, and one assist.
Tominaga went 10 of 18 from the field, 8 of 10 on twos, for his 34 points with six rebounds and one assist for Hokkaido.
Dwight Ramos added 17 points, three rebounds, four assists, and one steal.
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