Reigning champion Golden Kings open season with victory

The bj-league's eighth season tipped off on Saturday with three games, and the defending champion Ryukyu Golden Kings defeated the host Kyoto Hannaryz 82-73 in Koto Toyama's first game at the helm.

Toyama coached the Miyazaki Shining Suns during the past two seasons before being named the third head coach in Ryukyu history.

(Official game statistics were unavailable at press time, eight hours after the 3 p.m. tipoff.)

Big Bulls 88, Albirex BB 82

In Niigata, Dai Oketani, who guided Ryukyu to a pair of championships, earned a victory in his first game on the bench for the Tohoku franchise, now in its second season.

Former Ryukyu center Dillion Sneed had 21 points on 8-for-13 shooting and grabbed 11 rebounds for Iwate.

After the game, Sneed summed up the season-opening win this way on Facebook: "Positive start to the season right there."

Longtime Sendai 89ers guard Kenichi Takahashi scored 20 points, including 10-for-12 at the free-throw line, for Iwate, while fellow newcomer Reggie Okosa had 14 points. Marquette University product Lawrence Blackledge scored 12, grabbed nine boards and blocked six shots. Masato Tsukino sank three 3-pointers and contributed 11 points in the victory.

For Niigata, forward Rodney Webb had 21 points and 11 rebounds, Nile Murry scored 17 and Chris Holm grabbed 12 rebounds.

An announced crowd of 3,189 attended the game.

89ers 63, Phoenix 61

In Hamamatsu, Sendai edged the hosts in a defensive struggle that went down the wire.

The teams shot a combined 46-for-148 from the field.

It was Hamamatsu Higashimikawa's first game as a member of the Western Conference after a distinguished four-season stint in the Eastern Conference, which included two championships and a championship runnerup finish last season.

"We're just happy to open the season with a win on the road against a great team like Hamamatsu," Sendai coach Bob Pierce told The Japan Times. "We came out running — 22 points in the first quarter — but then Hamamatsu's defense toughened up."

In the fourth quarter, Sendai trailed 52-45, but rallied back to take a six-point edge, 63-57, with 2 minutes remaining.

"That 18-5 run was what saved us despite some overall sloppy play throughout," Pierce said.

89ers newcomer Sam Willard, a University of the Pacific product, had 15 rebounds in his bj-league debut. He scored six of his seven points in the fourth quarter. Pierce called his fourth-quarter offensive output "six hard-earned points ... (that) were part of our run to re-take the lead for good."

Kevin Coble, who played college ball at Northwestern University, scored a team-best 17 points for Sendai, and DePaul product Karron Clarke "did a little bit of everything," the Sendai coach said, noting his strong defense and nine rebounds.

Sendai captain and fan favorite Takehiko Shimura poured in 16 points, handed out four assists and made three steals. Guard Yasuaki Arai, a former Saitama Bronco, had six points and four assists in his first game for the 89ers.

For the Phoenix, Kevin Galloway (Texas Southern) had 20 points, 17 rebounds and four assists and one-time MVP Jeffrey Parmer (Florida Atlantic) scored 18 points and raked in 12 rebounds, while 211-cm Elbert Fuqua (Texas-San Antonio) had nine points and 11 boards.

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Bolt sprints to season-best 9.76 in 100 meters at Golden Gala

Just a blur: Usain Bolt competes in the men's 100 meters during a Diamond League meet on Thursday in Rome. AFP-JIJI

ROME — World record-holder Usain Bolt put his poor performance in the Czech Republic behind him with a new season's best of 9.76 seconds in the 100-meter race at the Golden Gala on Thursday.

Bolt ran a relatively slow 10.04 in Ostrava last week, raising questions about his Olympic preparations.

His previous world lead of 9.82 was set at home in Jamaica this month.

"My drive was better and I started well," Bolt said. "The transition was also better. After Ostrava a lot of people questioned me, but I never questioned myself.

"Everyone has a bad race, you just got to go back to the drawing board."

While his start in Rome still wasn't exceptional, Bolt quickly pulled in front and broke the previous meet record of 9.77 set by Tyson Gay three years ago.

Former world record-holder Asafa Powell crossed second in 9.91 and European champion Christophe Lemaitre was third in 10.04.

There was virtually no wind.

Powell didn't hear "set" or "go" from the starter.

"I'm very upset with my race tonight. I'm not upset that I lost but that I couldn't execute like I wanted to," Powell said. "I didn't get out of the starting block like I should. I was all over the track.

"I'm not even going to complain," Powell added. "Usain ran a great race, I just have to go home, work on it and come back."

Bolt attributed his problems in Ostrava to fatigue for his first race of the season in Europe. This time, he appeared energized even two hours before his race, when he warmed up the crowd with a lap around the track on a golf cart, wearing the shirt of Italy's soccer team as he danced and posed for the cameras.

The crowd of nearly 60,000 cheered Bolt's every move.

"I appreciate a great crowd, they gave me a lot of love," Bolt said. "I feed off the crowd, so that was good."

When he came back out to run, Bolt chatted with the race worker behind his lane before he stepped into the starting blocks. After the race, he grabbed an Italian flag as he celebrated with another lap around the track that hosted the 1960 Olympics.

"Since I arrived in Rome I made sure to be in bed early. So I got a lot of rest and slept a lot," Bolt said. "In Ostrava I had not had enough sleep. This race was much better."

This was the third Diamond League meet of the year but Bolt's first.

In other events on a comfortable evening at Stadio Olimpico, Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce settled for second in the women's 100 behind Cote d'Ivoire winner Murielle Ahoure, who timed 11.00.

There was nearly a world record in the 3,000 steeplechase, with Kenya's Paul Kpisiele Koech clocking 7:54.31 for the third-fastest time ever. With Saif Saaeed Shaheen's 2004 world record of 7:53.63 seemingly in reach, Koech accelerated on the final straight but came up just short.

"I think I am capable now of running the world record," Koech said.

With world champion Dai Greene a late withdrawal due to illness, Javier Culson of Puerto Rico won the 400 hurdles in 48.14, with Olympic bronze medalist Bershawn Jackson of the United States second in 48.25.

Felix Sanchez, the 2004 Olympic champion, felt a calf muscle tighten about 30 meters from the line, stopped running, and fell to the track chest first. The Dominican Republic athlete came up with a slight limp.

"This is nothing serious," he said.

There was a surprise winner in the women's 800, with 19-year-old Fantu Megiso clocking an Ethiopian record of 1:57.56 — the second-fastest time in the world this year. Olympic champion Pamela Jelimo crossed second and world champ Mariya Savinova was third, while 2009 world champ Caster Semenya settled for eighth.

There was also an Ethiopian winner in the women's 1,500, with Abebe Aregawi winning by a large margin in 3:56.54, the best time this year.

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Newton, Golden Kings know what it takes to excel

Seven seasons are in the record books now, and the only numbers that truly resonate are championships.

The Osaka Evessa still have the most, with a remarkable three-peat, starting in 2005-06. They are joined in that elite circle by two bj-league franchises with sustained excellence and a pair of crowns each — the Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix and the Ryukyu Golden Kings.

Sunday's crowning achievement was a year in the making for the Golden Kings, who ended the Eastern Conference heavyweight's two-year reign by ascending to the throne after a mini-drought. As a second-year franchise, the Kings picked up their first championship by topping the Tokyo Apache in the title match after dethroning the Evessa in the Western Conference final in May 2009.

Understand this: The Golden Kings are a model franchise. Player development, marketing, coaching and booster club membership are all aspects of Ryukyu's daily operations that other teams can learn from.

Like San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich molding his team around Tim Duncan, as Ian Thomsen noted in a recent SI.com story, the Kings have wisely built their team around Jeff Newton and Anthony McHenry, whose skills perfectly complement each other.

Newton, the peerless post player on five title teams, doesn't demand the ball or a certain number of shots per game; instead, he demands effort and holds his teammates accountable when their level of play slips.

Newton's former Evessa teammate David Palmer, the only other player in league history with five championship game appearances, also embodies the team's unselfish spirit.

Minutes after McHenry picked up the playoff MVP award on Sunday, Palmer was surrounded by cameras and microphones. With a big smile on his face, he told reporters: "I'm just so happy. ... For McHenry to have (earned) this award, it feels wonderful."

No matter how many points the Golden Kings have scored, Newton always talks about defense and rebounding as the things his team must never stop focusing on.

Sunday night, for example, the former Indiana University standout talked about the significance of winning the battle on the boards (he hauled in a game-high 19 of Ryukyu's 54 rebounds; Hamamatsu had 41).

"I've just got a feel for the ball," the 31-year-old Newton said. "I go and get it."

That's the foundation of Ryukyu's success. And it starts with a selfless player who always seems to make the right play.

Case in point: After Newton's 40-point, 30-rebound game against the Sendai 89ers in November 2008, assistant coach Keith Richardson summed up the feat this way: "When they announced 40 and 30, I could not believe it. ... But when you know Jeff Newton the way we do and his work ethic and his 'never-give up' attitude it is not too hard to believe that he could get those kind of numbers for one game. It was definitely special to witness this record-setting performance and to get the win, which I am sure means more to Jeff than the numbers actually do. Jeff is a team player, this I know, and big numbers in a win are just icing on the cake for him."

And then there's this: Oketani knows how to use his bench, trusting his players and giving major minutes to the youngest duo on either team — 22-year-old guards Narito Namizato and Morihisa Yamauchi, both of whom made major contributions in the Final Four, combining for 41 total points in victories over the Kyoto Hannaryz and the Phoenix.

It doesn't hurt, of course, that the team's supporting cast has players that excel in different areas. There's brute force center Dillion Sneed, a forceful presence at 202-cm and 126 kg in the low post. There's fellow post player Dzaflo Larkai, whose footwork and repertoire of moves around the basket can sometimes remind one of the way Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon operated against an array of defensive schemes. There's Palmer, the league's premier perimeter marksman, who came off the bench and thrived in a reserve role. There's the savvy, underrated on-court presence of Tsubasa Yonamine, who year after year racks up impressive assist-to-turnover numbers. Since 2006, Yonamine has 1,146 assists and 360 turnovers in 279 regular-season games.

"He's a true leader," Palmer said of Yonamine in May 2011. "I don't think his true value can be measured by on-court statistics. He's a quality leader."

There's Yasufumi Takushi, who plays a few minutes a game and does his damage from 3-point range (46 3s in 2011-12). And then there's Naoto Kosuge, a solid player for five seasons with the Niigata Albirex BB before joining the Kings last season. His 17-point outing on Sunday, with 3 of 4 3-point shots flying through the net, was a bold reminder of his all-around skills in this league. Several seasons ago, then-Tokyo coach Joe Bryant spoke passionately about Kosuge's rare combination of size (187 cm) and shooting ability that made Kosuge one of the best pure athletes among the league's Japanese players (and Bryant should know about pure athletes; after all, his son, Kobe, happens to be one of the greatest NBA players of all time).

It took Kosuge seven seasons to win a championship, but the victory was sweet and a well-earned tribute to a player who does his job the right way.

"This is my eighth pro season, seventh in the bj-league, and I've finally grabbed a championship," Kosuge told reporters. "I'd been away from any championship since I was in college, so I'm so excited about this."

* * *

Oketani stepped into the spotlight as head coach while still in his late 20s for the Oita HeatDevils after ex-NBA center Jawann Oldham, the team's bench boss, was fired by the Kyushu club in the league's inaugural season. From that point on, the confident leader has proven he has what it takes to be an effective sideline supervisor in this league.

"Coach Dai is the heart of the team," Richardson told me in a 2008 interview, months before the team's first championship. "We all function around him as one. His knowledge of basketball is just phenomenal. He is always thinking ahead of the other teams and makes adjustments to the game very fast."

When Oketani took over in Okinawa, the Kings were coming off a 10-34 inaugural season. Winning become the norm from that point on.

For the first championship, we climbed up to the (top) from the bottom of the standings," Oketani recalled Sunday night with the championship trophy beside him in the interview room. "So nobody thought of us seriously. And when we did win, the championship and other teams began marking us all the time. They tried to adjust to our offense and defense. We still managed to win games. That's because our players really grew up. This (title) is certainly a different one and valuable one as we won while being targeted by other teams."

It was a joy to see the Golden Kings fans, arguably the best in the league, being saluted by McHenry after the title game had concluded on Sunday. It was his way of reminding them that their support is critical to the team's success. McHenry raised his hands and held up his MVP plaque for them, doing so behind the team bench, on the opposite side of the court and also along the baseline. Three humble gestures.

Throughout the championship game — and you can't discount their brilliance during their 39-win regular season — the Golden Kings never settled for mediocrity.

"They came ready to play," Hamamatsu guard Jermaine Dixon observed. "They were the best team in the league this year, and they definitely played like it tonight in the championship."

While Newton's five titles may be the league's most jaw-dropping accomplishment and one that fires up his younger, impressionable teammates, McHenry's energy is the driving force of the team's high-octane attack at both ends of the floor.

Listen to Dixon's description of McHenry's playoff MVP-clinching game (25 points, three blocks, two steals):

"He was great. He got out in transition. He got easy baskets. He was making plays for his teammates, playing great D, whether blocking shots or getting rebounds, he was definitely doing everything out there."

Newton cemented his status as a legend in this league after putting 50 points on the board in the Western Conference final to lead Ryukyu past Osaka in 2009. Since then, he's battled injuries but made big plays time and again when his team needed them most.

He's a "smart defender, great rebounder, very unselfish," Richardson told me last season.

One fan told this newspaper: "Many people only think about offense, but he (Newton) also had great defensive effort. Great box-out player, too."

Another fervent supporter said, "He can play both as a forward or a center. There are many players who have a size advantage, but he still keeps his toughness against them."

Two generations of standouts, nearly 10 years apart in age — Newton and Namizato — represent the wide range of skill sets on Ryukyu's 2011-12 champions roster. The former is the winningest player in league history, the latter has taken his first big step as a pro player by playing a major role (11.0 points per game and a team-best 217 assists and 63 steals) for the Kings this season.

Namizato has lofty ambitions: to play in the NBA. His speed, quick handle, court vision and daring dashes in the lane have raised his stock, though it's too early to expect him to be in the world's supreme league at the start of the 2012-13 season. That shouldn't stop him from pursuing his dreams, though.

To be the best, one must compete — and excel — against the best.

That's a lesson that has served the Ryukyu Golden Kings well over the past four stellar seasons.

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Golden Week resuscitates strugglers

While people around the country took a well-earned break during last week's Golden Week holiday, some of the J. League's biggest strugglers were putting in overtime tackling their early-season problems.

Golden opportunity: Kengo Nakamura and Kawasaki Frontale won both their games in last week's holiday fixtures. KYODO

Of the seven games that made up last Thursday's midweek program, five were won by teams from the bottom half of the table. Last-place Consadole Sapporo set the tone by beating Cerezo Osaka 1-0 for their first victory of the season, and although a degree of normality was restored in Sunday's results, unrest among the lower orders has made its mark on the updated standings.

Kawasaki Frontale are the biggest movers, jumping from 12th to sixth over the past two rounds courtesy of consecutive wins over Jubilo Iwata and Nagoya Grampus. It remains to be seen how long the bounce generated by new manager Yahiro Kazama's appointment will last, but seven goals in two games — including four for striker Takuro Yajima — is an impressive start.

Vissel Kobe have also hit a rich vein of form, responding to the dismissal of manager Masahiro Wada with wins over Omiya Ardija and Cerezo Osaka. Former Gamba Osaka manager Akira Nishino has been touted as Wada's long-term replacement, but caretaker Ryo Adachi is certainly doing a fine job in the meantime.

Yokohama F. Marinos are the other team enjoying an upturn in fortunes, winning three games in a row to rise from 17th to 13th over the past three rounds. Seven goals in three games suggests Marinos have put their early-season scoring drought behind them, and the return from injury of veteran Marquinhos adds further options up front.

All three teams began the season with unfamiliarities of one kind or another, with Marinos under a new manager in Yasuhiro Higuchi, and Vissel and Frontale having undergone extensive changes to their squads. All three have ambitions higher than the bottom half of the table, but nothing is assured despite their Golden Week surge.

For the time being, at least they can breathe a little easier.

* * *

Shimizu S-Pulse finally ended Vegalta Sendai's unbeaten start to the campaign after 10 games last Sunday, adding another feather to the Shizuoka side's cap in what is turning out to be a very impressive season.

S-Pulse have now won six of their last seven games, with Sunday's 1-0 victory taking them within two points of leaders Vegalta and offering an intriguing riposte to critics who wrote off their chances of silverware at the start of the year.

"Just because we won, it doesn't mean we've jumped into first place," said goalscorer Genki Omae. "We've only played 10 games, so it's what we do from now on that counts.

"There are a lot of things that we haven't been able to do as a team, so we have to work to fix that."

* * *

Nagoya Grampus manager Dragan Stojkovic will not be happy to see his side in the bottom half of the table, but that is the reality facing the 2010 champions after failing to register a league win since April 14.

Asian Champions League commitments mean Grampus have played a game less than most of their rivals, but after losing consecutive league matches for the first time since 2009, the pressure is starting to build.

"Personally, I don't think there is a bad atmosphere in the team," said midfielder Danilson Cordoba after Sunday's 3-2 defeat to Kawasaki Frontale. "We just have to keep thinking positive as we always do.

"It's important that we take hold of the situation and sort it out, but I'm not worried. We just have to put in some good performances."

* * *

Quotable: "It means nothing if you make a good run but don't get a good pass, just as it means nothing if you get a good pass but don't make a good run."

— Sanfrecce Hiroshima striker Hisato Sato takes his scoring tally to nine for the season with two goals in Sunday's 5-2 win over Kashiwa Reysol.

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Golden Kings extend winning streak to seven

The Ryukyu Golden Kings have accomplished a number of firsts in their history, including this: They were the first time other than the Osaka Evessa to win a bj-league title. They also became the first professional sports team in Okinawa in 2007.

On Saturday, they became the first team in the 2011-12 season to reach 20 wins, doing so by edging the Shiga Lakestars 84-81 in Yasu, Shiga Prefecture.

The Western Conference-leading Golden Kings (20-5) have won seven straight games. Dai Oketani's club has exhibited the patience, poise and depth of a championship team since the season started, and has improved along the way.

Anthony McHenry paced Ryukyu with 17 points, center Dillion Sneed added 16 points on 6-for-9 shooting in his season debut and Naoto Kosuge scored 15.

Josh Peppers led Shiga (16-9) with 19 points, Ray Nixon had 17 points with nine boards, Julius Ashby scored 15 and Yu Okada added 13 as both teams begin their quest in the season's second half to reach the Final Four.

HeatDevils 92, Evessa 82

In Moriguchi, Osaka Prefecture, center Taj Finger, a Stanford University product, made his season debut a successful, scoring 23 points to lead Oita to a series-opening win.

Finger, who played for the HeatDevils (6-19) before the March 11 earthquake last season, grabbed seven rebounds and made 9 of 12 shots from the field and 5 of 7 free throws in 28 minutes. Frontcourt mate T.J. Cummings added 18 points and 15 rebounds and Naoto Takushi, Wendell White and Kohei Mitomo each scored 13 points. Takushi registered eight assists in the win and raked in eight rebounds along with two steals.

For Osaka, Lynn Washington, the All-Star Game MVP for the second straight season, had 24 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Cohey Aoki and Wayne Marshall each scored 13 points for Osaka (17-6), and forward Mike Bell finished with 11 points and eight boards, three assists and three steals in his Evessa debut. Daisuke Tamura added seven points for the hosts.

Osaka (17-6) trailed 68-58 entering the fourth quarter, and never regained the lead the rest of the way.

Albirex BB 94, B-Corsairs 78

In Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture, Erron Maxey scored 21 points, Yuichi Ikeda poured in 19 on 8-for-15 shooting and the Albirex played an impressive game in the series opener.

Nile Murry (14 points, nine assists) and Chris Holm (14 points, 11 rebounds) and Shuhei Komatsu (12 points), Hirotaka Kondo (five assists in 17 minutes) made major contributions in the victory for Niigata, now 16-9 overall, including 9-4 at home, under first-year coach Matt Garrison.

All-Star forward Justin Burrell was the B-Corsairs' high scorer with 20 points and 11 rebounds and Kenji Yamada scored 16 points for Yokohama (11-14).

Phoenix 80, Big Bulls 64

In Hamamatsu, Jermaine Dixon dished out 13 assists and the Phoenix rolled to a win over Iwate, spoiling Shinji Tomiyama's debut as acting head coach.

Jeffrey Parmer scored 16 points and hauled in 12 rebounds for the two-time defending champions and newcomer Lawrence Blackledge and Masahiro Oguchi each scored 14 for Hamamatsu (15-10).

The Phoenix outscored the out-of-towners 27-14 in the pivotal fourth quarter.

Thomas Kennedy led the expansion Big Bulls (7-20) with 19 points and Gordon Klaiber had a 13-point effort. Forward Shawn Malloy added 11 points and 11 boards and Atsushi Nogami scored seven, while Yoshiaki Yamamoto handed out six assists.

Hannaryz 80, Five Arrows 58

In Muko, Kyoto Prefecture, led by balanced scoring, the hosts hammered Takamatsu in the series opener.

Senegalese big man Babacar Camara had a team-high 20 points for the Hannaryz (17-6). Former NBA center Lance Allred notched a double-double (12 points, 12 boards) and Taizo Kawabe scored 11 points.

Paul Butorac paced the Five Arrows (1-24) with 17 points.

Northern Happinets 99, Jets 78

In Yachiyo, Chiba Prefecture, Ricky Woods scored 22 points and Yuki Kikuchi's hot perimeter shooting led Akita to a sweep.

Kikuchi scored 19 points and drained 6 of 9 3-point shots, giving him 11-for-17 from beyond the arc in the series.

Stanley Ocitti scored 18 points, Kazuhiro Shoji had 15 points and seven assists and Mychal Kearse added 14 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and four steals. All told, the first-place Happinets (17-9) collected 18 steals.

For Chiba (10-14), Maurice Hargrow was the leading scorer (23 points) and Jamel Staten finished with 15 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.

"Akita outplayed us all weekend," Jets coach Eric Gardow told The Japan Times. "Their matchup zone hurt us and we turned the ball over too many times (26 on Saturday).

"Our 3-point defense was simply obviously nonexistent as they shot 16-for-26. ... We will take the positives in that this is the best we have shot from the free-throw line (15-for-16) all year."

Rizing 74, Shining Suns 70

In Fukuoka, Kevin Palmer's 26-point, 13-rebound performance led the Rizing to a narrow victory over Miyazaki.

Akitomo Takeno scored 12 points, Jun Nakanishi had 11 and Carlos Dixon added 10 for Fukuoka (16-9).

For the Shining Suns (12-15), forward O'Neal "Trey" Mims finished with 15 points and 14 boards, Taishiro Shimizu scored 12 and Dexter Lyons had 10.

Grouses 77, 89ers 58

In Shinminato, Toyama Prefecture, center Devin Searcy's strong effort inside (18 points, 13 rebounds) and 16 points apiece from Takeshi Mito and Ira Brown carried the Grouses to a win over Sendai.

Dan Fitzgerald, who put 16 points on the board, was the leading scorer for the 89ers (12-13). Johnny Dukes scored 13 points and Rashaad Singleton had 11 points, 10 rebounds and six blocked shots.

"Toyama played good defense and they beat us on the offensive glass," Sendai coach Bob Pierce said, citing Toyama's 28 offensive boards to Sendai's 17.

Susanoo Magic 83, Brave Warriors 66

In Matsue, Shimane Prefecture, Michael Parker had 22 points and 10 rebounds and B.J. Puckett scored 15 as the hosts defeated Shinshu.

Jeral Davis added 14 points and four blocks and Reggie Golson had 12 points, nine rebounds and six assists for Shimane (14-11). Floor leader Edward Yamamoto contributed eight points, six assists and three steals for Zeljko Pavlicevic's club.

Derek Raivio led the Brave Warriors (11-14) with 23 points, T yler Hughes added 12 points and 13 boards and Takato Saito scored eight points and had four of Shinshu's six assists.

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Golden Eagles soar in Hawaii Bowl

HONOLULU — Austin Davis made the plays when it counted to send Southern Mississippi coach Larry Fedora out a winner.

Davis threw two touchdowns, including a 4-yarder late in the game, and No. 22 Southern Miss earned a school-record 12th victory by holding off Nevada 24-17 in the Hawaii Bowl on Saturday night.

"It wasn't his best game, but he did enough to help us win this football game," said Fedora, who is leaving after four seasons to take over at North Carolina.

Davis overcame a shaky game for the Conference USA-champion Golden Eagles (12-2), and the defense in the second half managed to shut down Nevada's potent pistol attack led by Lampford Mark.

"I thought we struggled the entire game offensively. We made a few big plays at the end, but really the defense, these guys were special and they've done that all year," Davis said. "We made a play or two on offense when we needed to."

Davis was off most of the night but made it count on the game-winning drive. On third-and-goal, he scrambled right and found Kelvin Bolden for the 4-yard score, capping a seven-play, 68-yard drive. He had just 59 yard passing at halftime and finished 18 of 41 for 165 yards.

On the winning drive, Davis was 3 of 4 for 66 yards, including a 43-yard completion to Dominique Sullivan down the right sideline and a 19-yarder to a crossing William Spight. Sullivan had five catches for 75 yards.

With Davis held in check, the Golden Eagles relied on their defense, stopping Mark on fourth-and-1 at midfield with 3:56 left. Mark had 183 yards rushing for the Wolf Pack (7-6) but was held to just 21 yards in the second half.

"Our offense in the second half — our offensive front just didn't get it done at all and I was really disappointed in that aspect of it. We got stopped on two fourth-and-1s," Wolf Pack coach Chris Ault said.

Nevada was without its top receiver, Rishard Matthews, who has 91 receptions for 1,364 yards and eight TDs.

The game featured a Hawaii Bowl-record 17 punts, and the 41 combined points was the fewest in bowl history.

Cody Fajardo was 8 of 19 for 60 yards for Nevada. He also was held to just 14 yards rushing on nine carries before being replaced by Tyler Lantrip.

The Golden Eagles got another big win after capturing their fifth C-USA title by upsetting previously unbeaten Houston 49-28 in the conference championship game. This was the first 10-win season for Southern Miss since 1988.

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Golden Kings, Phoenix reach final

The Ryukyu Golden Kings built a big enough cushion — 19 points to be precise — to sustain a spirited Osaka Evessa comeback. And that's exactly what they did.

Golden ticket: Ryukyu's David Palmer drives against Osaka's Tseng Wen-ting in the bj-league Western Conference final on Saturday. The Golden Kings won 82-76. YOSHIAKI MIURA PHOTO

The Evessa cut it to five in the final minute, but suffered an 82-76 defeat to their archrival in the bj-league's Western Conference final on Saturday night at Ariake Colosseum. Ryukyu, the 2008-09 champion, advanced to the title game against the Eastern Conference final champion Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix. Sunday's title match tips off at 5:05 p.m.

David Palmer paced the Golden Kings, the regular-season conference champ, with 24 points and Anthony McHenry poured in 23, including a pair of big dunks that he said "gave the team a spark."

Kings standout Carlos Dixon scored 20, Shigeyuki Kinjo had eight and Naoto Kosuge added seven. Big man Jeff Newton, whose 50 points propelled the Kings past the Evessa in the conference final two seasons ago, didn't score in his 18-plus minutes, finishing with three rebounds, two assists and a steal.

Nursing an ankle injury that kept him out of the Shiga Lakestars series two weeks ago, Newton was about 60 percent, coach Dai Oketani said. But having Newton in the game, as a vital player, "helped make the other players better," the coach said.

Said McHenry: "We (wanted to use the zone) to keep them out of the paint." With the man-to-man defense, he added, the key was to build a wall behind the person with the ball.

This approach helped to slow down Osaka point guard Kenny Satterfield, who finished 1-for-6 shooting with four points, though he did have six assists. Blackwell said Sattefield was aggressive in creating shots for his teammates, but they were not always capitalizing on open shots or space the defense gave them.

Washington, the linchpin of the three Evessa title-winning team, had a team-high 25 points, including 14 in the fourth quarter to spearhead Osaka's comeback. Veteran teammate Billy Knight contributed 23 points and 9-for-10 shooting at the line. Center Wayne Marshall scored 12 points.

The Evessa were 19-for-49 from inside the 3-point arc as Ryukyu's disciplined 2-3 zone and man-to-man defense worked well throughout the game.

"Hats off to Okinawa," first-year Evessa coach Ryan Blackwell said. "They had a good game plan. We fought back twice, but in the third quarter, we just didn't get back on defense."

Washington said, "It sucks to lose." He added that "every time I come here to Ariake I am confident (in leading) the team to victory. I always feel I'm prepared (to do that)."

Palmer, on the other hand, was all smiles after the triumph.

"It was a hard fought game," he said. "We were able to keep fighting for the win."

The players, though, gave Oketani a reason to voice his disgust on the sideline. "He was angry we let them get back in the game in the fourth quarter," Palmer admitted."

Last season, Osaka handed Ryukyu a stunning 84-56 defeat in the West final. For the third straight year, the teams faced off in the West final, giving the teams' loyal fans another chance to show their enthusiasm from the get-go.

The Evessa, vying for their fifth title game appearance in six seasons, trailed 64-49 after three quarters, not an impossible hole to dig out of, but a major obstacle to overcome.

Blackwell's charges were down 68-49 after sharpshooter Palmer flushed a pair of baseline jumpers from right side on back-to-back possessions.

Through three quarters, the Evessa were 16-for-51 from the field, including 1-for-11 on 3s. The Golden Kings were 21-for-52 entering the fourth quarter, but that included 18-for-33 on 2s, including 10-for-14 combined for Palmer and McHenry.

Washington picked up a pair of quick fouls in the first quarter, sending him to the bench early. When he re-entered the game at the 5:47 mark of the second, the Golden Kings led 25-17, with the last three of those points coming on a McHenry jam and his free throw.

The Golden Kings turned a one-point game into a 32-30 lead courtesy of a 13-3 run, including Palmer and Kinjo 3-pointers.

But the Evessa rallied back, getting big production from Knight to close out the half. He scored eight points during a 10-2 spurt to pull Osaka within 34-34 with 39.1 seconds left in the half.

Palmer then drilled three free throws after being fouled in the act of shooting a long-range shot, pushing the Ryukyu lead back to five. Yonamine produced the final points of the half at the charity stripe. That made it 39-32, Ryukyu.

In the East Conference final, Ray Nixon scored 25 points and Jeffrey Parmer added 23 to lead a well-balanced offensive attack as the Phoenix routed the Niigata Albirex BB 88-74 to reach the title game for a second straight season.

The Phoenix, boosted by Masahiro Oguchi's nine points and eight apiece by Shingo Okada and Dzaflo Larkai, made 21 of 32 shots from inside the 3-point arc and got timely 3s to keep the Albirex from putting together any sustained runs in the final three periods.

The Albirex trailed by as many as 27 points, falling behind 80-53 on Oguchi's second free throw with midway through the fourth.

Like a fighter delivering a series of hard punches to the gut before throwing the knockout punch, the Phoenix's aggressive play on defense and ball movement created an impressive performance for those in attendance.

"That's just how we wants us to play," said Nixon, referring to coach Kazuo Nakamura's game plan. "We play as hard as we can for 40 minutes . . . from start to finish."

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