Japan tops Panama in basketball 78-61
Kei Igarashi scored 18 points and Japan had 16 steals in a 78-61 victory over Panama on Monday night in the opening round of the FIBA world championships. Japan (1-2) took control with a 10-0 run spanning halftime and then pulled away with a series of breakaway
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Kei Igarashi scored 18 points and Japan had 16 steals in a 78-61 victory over Panama on Monday night in the opening round of the FIBA world championships.
Japan (1-2) took control with a 10-0 run spanning halftime and then pulled away with a series of breakaway layups and dunks that had the sellout crowd at 10,000-seat Green Arena cheering wildly while banging inflatable plastic sticks.
Joji Takeuchi hit a 3-pointer with one second left in the first half to give Japan the lead for good, 36-33. Japan opened the second half with a 7-0 run and was never challenged again. The host team took a 57-45 lead after three quarters.
Panama (0-3) had just one field goal over the first 6 1/2 minutes of the final quarter as Japan led by as many as 25 points, 78-53 with 3:35 to go.
Panama finished with 27 turnovers, a statistic that negated a 41-29 rebound advantage.
Takehiko Orimo added 13 points for Japan, while Ryota Sakurai had 12 - 10 in a 13-6 run that brought Japan within one point after trailing 22-14 after one quarter.
Japan had started well and then faded in losses to Germany and Angola, but that wasn't the case in this game.
Ruben Douglas had 16 points for Panama, which plays Germany on Wednesday and has little chance of advancing to the second round.
Japan plays New Zealand (0-3) on Wednesday