The Alvark Tokyo had a pair of key scoring runs in the second quarter en route to a 72-64 victory over the SeaHorses Mikawa in the Emperor's Cup final on Monday, January 12. In a clash of B.League teams in the 101st All Japan Basketball Championship title match, the Alvark overcame an eight-point deficit early in the second quarter. Coach Dainius Adomaitis' squad used a 12-0 scoring spurt to pull ahead 30-26 on a pair of Kai Toews (188-G-1998, college: UNCW) free throws with 4:56 remaining until halftime at Yoyogi National Stadium. Moments earlier, Taiki Osakabe (187-SG-1998) and Kohei Fukuzawa (177-PG-1993) sank consecutive 3-pointers for Tokyo to help ignite its offense. Kai Toews registered assists on both plays. Mikawa big man Davante Gardner (203-F/C-1991, college: Marquette) ended the run, trimming the lead to 30-28. Another Gardner basket leveled the score at 30-30 with 3:24 remaining in the half. Tokyo responded with a 10-0 run - with baskets from Osakabe, Marcus Foster (191-SG-1995, college: Creighton) (two), Sebastian Saiz (205-PF-1994, college: Ole Miss), and Kai Toews - to end the second quarter. Saiz finished the first half with a team-best 12 points, and Kai Toews had all five of his assists before intermission. The SeaHorses trailed 40-30 entering the second half. To its credit, Mikawa cut the lead to 51-48 heading into the fourth quarter, but Tokyo outscored its opponent 21-16 in the final stanza to secure the title.
For the Alvark, Monday's victory was the team's third All Japan Basketball Championship title, following victories in 2007 and 2012. In 2025, the Ryukyu Golden Kings beat them 60-49 in the title match. Since winning their ninth Emperor's Cup in 2016, the SeaHorses have been the runners-up twice (2018 and on Monday). Speaking to reporters after the match, Adomaitis described the triumph over the SeaHorses as a "great feeling." The Lithuanian coach added, "I'm so proud of what the players did. It's, like, unbelievable." Commenting on his team's gritty performance, Adomaitis said, "The players showed just unbelievable heart for the game, for basketball, and for this whole tournament in every game. … It was a real team, a championship team [that] was ready to give everything to win that trophy."
Saiz, one of the top centers in B.League history, paced the Alvark with 23 points. He made 8 of 10 shots from the field and 6 of 8 free-throw attempts. Foster chipped in with 15 points in 15-plus minutes off the bench. The veteran shooting guard sank 3 of 5 3-point shots. In a hard-working performance that earned him the Emperor's Cup MVP accolade, Ryan Rossiter (206-F-1989, college: Siena) added 10 points, 21 rebounds and three assists in 36 minutes. "I think it's a big honor to be named the MVP," Ryan Rossiter told reporters. "But I think in this tournament, particularly, only having nine players, I think the entire team should be the MVP. And I don't mean that to be a cliche, but everyone stepped up." Starting point guard Kai Toews provided eight points and five assists. Fukuzawa finished with nine points and Osakabe had six points and five assists. Although team captain Zack Baranski (193-G/F-1992) struggled on offense (0-for-8, zero points), his energy and hustle (including seven rebounds, a steal, and a block) contributed to the victory.
On defense, Tokyo's aggressive effort on the perimeter paid off. The Alvark held the SeaHorses to 5-for-27 shooting from 3-point range. "It's a great feeling to get this win, knowing all the problems we've gone through the whole season," Saiz, a perennial B.League All-Star, said in the postgame news conference. The Spaniard added, "I'm just proud and happy that everybody got to this point together." In the ongoing B.League season, the Alvark have a 19-11 record.
For Mikawa, Gardner was the leading scorer with 20 points and he pulled down nine rebounds. Swingman Yudai Nishida (190-F-1999) added 14 points and Avi Koki Schafer had an 11-point performance. The SeaHorses shot 24-for-65 from the floor. "Obviously, we didn't shoot the ball well, but partially it was the Alvark's defense, I thought," SeaHorses coach Ryan Richman said. "Credit to them, they played well. Defensively, they slowed us down and I thought we missed a couple of easy shots around the basket that hurt our momentum a little bit." Mikawa gained an important perspective over the past week, according to Richman. "It's tough coming in second place," the coach said. "I thought we had a really good week. But I thought we got better. I thought our players played really hard, and I thought we learned how hard it is to win a championship or to come close. And we learned how hard you have to play every possession to give yourself a chance, and [the] Alvark were better than us today, but we were close." Richman vowed that the team will continue to grow and improve as the season progresses. After the current B.League All-Star break, Mikawa returns to action in the regular season with a 20-10 record.
In the Emperor's Cup semifinals, Tokyo topped the San-en NeoPhoenix 80-75 on Saturday, January 10. On the same day, Mikawa prevailed 71-53 against the reigning B.League champion Utsunomiya Brex, holding the Brex to five points in the fourth quarter.
Tokyo booked a spot in the semifinals by beating the Gunma Crane Thunders 83-80 in overtime in the quarterfinals on Thursday, January 8. Also Thursday, Mikawa knocked off Ryukyu 92-85 in the quarterfinals.
Tokyo's Saiz, Foster and Ryan Rossiter, and Mikawa's Gardner and Nishida were selected for the 101st Emperor's Cup Best 5 (all-tournament) team. None of the five players was selected in 2025.
Courtesy of: japan-forward.com