The Hiroshima Dragonflies played a strong second half to beat the Ryukyu Golden Kings 72-63 in Sunday's Game 2 to even their best-of-three B-League basketball finals at one game apiece.
After trailing 34-30 at halftime, Hiroshima outscored defending champion Ryukyu 18-13 in the third quarter and 24-16 in the fourth in front of a sell-out crowd of 13,203 at Yokohama Arena.
Game 3 will be played Tuesday at the same venue.
For Hiroshima, Dwayne Evans had a team-high 16 points and Ryo Yamazaki made four of five from three-point range en route to his total of 14.
Three-pointers from Kerry Blackshear Jr. and Toshiki Kamisawa helped the Dragonflies extend the lead to 60-49 early in the fourth quarter.
The first-time finalists then pulled away every time the Okinawa-based Golden Kings tried to make a run.
"We came out with a lot of heart and pride," Hiroshima head coach Kyle Milling said. "That's our team this year. We never give up. We always keep fighting. I'm just so proud of the players and the effort they've done all year, not just tonight."
Hiroshima's defense held Ryukyu scoreless for over five minutes during one third-quarter stretch. Vic Law scored 16 points for the Golden Kings, hitting four three-pointers.
Ryukyu won Saturday's Game 1 by a score of 74-62.
