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| Stanley Johnson impressed in front of the Filipino crowd. Joseph Sanvictores |
PASAY—The Gunma Crane Thunders used a third-quarter breakaway to pummel Levanga Hokkaido 98-81 in the first leg of the Japan B.League Manila Games on Wednesday night at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
Gunma gradually pulled away from Hokkaido and went full throttle in the third quarter to open an 81-60 lead heading into the fourth.
Gunma led by as much as 26 in the final frame before Hokkaido somehow got its offense going in the end to cut the final margin to a respectable one.
Former NBA veteran Stanley Johnson led Gunma with 23 points on 9 of 17 shooting including 4 of 7 on threes, five rebounds, three steals, and one steal.
Yuma Fujii added 14 points on 4-for-5 three-point shooting, three rebounds, three assists, and one steal, while AJ Edu only had three points and seven rebounds but had a game-high tying four assists.
Keisei Tominaga led Hokkaido with 19 points, two rebounds, four assists, and one steal, while Dwight Ramos added 13 points, two rebounds, one assist, one steal, and one block.
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