Dwight Ramos, Toyama Grouses defeat Ibaraki Robots in Emperor's Cup; Kiefer scores 12 in Shiga loss

Dwight Ramos and the Toyama Grouses defeated the Ibaraki Robots, 94-87, in the 97th Emperor's Cup All Japan Basketball Championship on Monday.

The Grouses relied on a strong start, scoring 33 points just in the first quarter alone while allowing only 19 for the Robots. Toyama had the upper hand at the end of the first half, 52-42.

The Robots tried to close the gap and inched back to as close as two points, 87-85, with 1:26 left in the game before Toyama pulled away on a Joshua Smith shot and charities from Keijuro Matsui.

Julian Mavunga led Toyama with 20 points and nine assists. Ramos registered five points, four rebounds, and three assists in the win.

The Robots' own Filipino player, Javi Gomez de Liaño, was not in the Ibaraki lineup for this game.

Meanwhile, Kiefer Ravena and the Shiga Lakestars lost to Alvark Tokyo, 92-75, in another Emperor's Cup game.

Ravena scored seven of his 12 points in the fourth quarter but that wasn't enough to keep Shiga from getting eliminated from the tournament.

—JMB, GMA News