Adrian Thomas stars as Phoenix eclipse Shining Suns

Decades from now, Adrian Thomas will still remember Sunday's game at Hamamatsu Arena, when the spotlight shined on him from start to finish.

With his teammates setting him up for shot after shot and a green light from coach Ryuji Kawai to do what he does best, Thomas had a ridiculously prolific game for the Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix.

The final numbers: 13-for-25 from 3-point range and 41 points in a laugher, a 139-83 victory over the visiting Miyazaki Shining Suns in the bj-league series finale.

Hamamatsu won the opener 112-77 on Saturday.

Thomas, a 25-year-old former University of Miami (Florida) player, has previously competed in the NBA Development League and in the NBA Summer League for the Miami Heat.

Hamamatsu improved to 7-3 in its first season in the Western Conference after four sensational campaigns in the Eastern Conference, and Thomas helped the run-and-gun squad establish a league record for total points, shattering the old mark (126) set by the Toyama Grouses in a triple-overtime contest against the Rizing Fukuoka on Oct. 24, 2009.

In addition, Thomas established a league record for 3s in one game. Michael Gardener had 10 3-pointers on May 10, 2009, for Hamamatsu, and his former Phoenix teammate Masahiro Oguchi drained 10 in the Final Four on May 22, 2010.

Thomas scored 25 points and drained 7 of 14 3s on Saturday.

Kevin Galloway finished with a triple-double in Hamamatsu's rout, with 19 points, 15 rebounds and 16 assists. Jeffrey Parmer had 15 points, Atsuya Ota added 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Tsubasa Yonezawa poured in 13 points.

The Phoenix erupted for 85 points after intermission. As a team, Hamamatsu was 21-for-43 on 3-point shots.

Larriques Cunningham paced the Shining Suns (1-7) with 33 points and Dominique Keller had 28.


(japantimes.co.jp)