Bay Area Dragons’ Myles Powell. –EASL PHOTO
UTSUNOMIYA — Bay Area kept it together in the most critical times on Friday night to slip past host Utsunomiya, 96-90, to stay alive for a third-place finish in the East Asia Super League Champions week here.
Andrew Nicholson finished with 26 points and 12 rebounds, while Myles Powell 17 and seven on top of 10 assists.
Filipino-American Sedrick Barefield, who was a nonfactor in the previous game, poured in 20 points as the Dragons denied the B.League champions a spot in the knockout phase.
Grant Jerrett put up 22 points, while Japanese national team fixture Makoto Hiejima added 15 more in the loss that should sting twice as much.
Brex lost at their very home court and won’t be advancing by way of a tiebreak rule in the standings despite having a 1-1 record.
Bay Area, also 1-1, will play the second placer of Group A play, which could be Ryukyu, Anyang, Taipei, or San Miguel Beer.
The five-day showpiece now moves to Okinawa, which will host a total of four games, including the finalé and the battle for third place.