24-05-2025
Basketball: Utsunomiya beats Ryukyu 81-68 in B-League finals opener
YOKOHAMA (Kyodo) -- Guard D.J. Newbill scored 25 points and had six assists to lead Utsunomiya Brex to an 81-68 win over the Ryukyu Golden Kings in the opening game of the B-League basketball finals on Saturday.
Utsunomiya, aiming for its first title since 2021-2022, took a 24-20 lead into the opening change and led the rest of the way at Yokohama Arena.
Guard Atsuya Ogawa and big man Gavin Edwards chipped in with 15 points each for Brex, which connected on 16 of 39 three-point attempts.
The Okinawa-based Golden Kings, missing injured point guard Ryuichi Kishimoto, got 18 points from swingman Vic Law, but the team made just six of its 23 shots from beyond the arc.
Playing in their fourth straight finals, the 2022-2023 champion Golden Kings will try to square the best-of-three series on Sunday.
