Gunma repeats over Levanga, pulls off OT win

MANILA, Philippines -- Clean sweep for the Gunma Crane Thunders. 

Following an easy win on Wednesday evening, the Crane Thunders needed five more minutes of overtime to outlast Levanga Hokkaido, 101-91, in overtime Thursday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City. 

AJ Edu and Gunma thus swept the Japan B.League Manila preseason games against Dwight Ramos and Hokkaido. 

With both Wednesday’s leading scorers Stanley Johnson and Keisei Tominaga fouling out, the squad’s supporting casts got the share of the spotlight. 

Takuto Nakamura had 25 points, five rebounds and three assists for the Crane Thunders, while Yuma Fujii backstopped with 18 markers, three boards and two dimes.

Johnson had 17 points in less than 16 minutes of play before fouling out with eight minutes to go in the game. 

Like Wednesday, Gunma jumped to a hot start, going up 28-11 at the end of the first. 

But slowly, Hokkaido, led by Tominaga, slowly dug out of the hole. 

A layup by Tominaga pushed them ahead, 55-54, as the ballgame turned into a nip-and-tuck affair. 

Levanga took an 85-80 lead after a Ramos triple. 

However, the Crane Thunders were able to tie things up anew and force overtime after a Nakamura layup off the steal. 

Edu had a chance to push themselves ahead with a corner triple, but it missed. And on the other end, Hokkaido went to Ramos, but he could not pull the trigger on a game-winning shot as time expired. 

In overtime, Fujii and Nakamura took turns as Gunma ran away. 

Kerry Blackshear Jr. had 12 points and nine rebounds for the winning team, while Trey Jones had 11. Edu had a near double-double of nine points and nine rebounds. 

Tominaga finished with 34 points in 27 minutes of play. Ramos had 17 markers on 5-of-13 shots. 

On Wednesday, Gunma blasted Levanga, 98-81, to kick off the B.League games.