St. Fort signs with the Hiroshima Dragonflies

It didn’t take long for Mark St. Fort to find work in Japan.

The 32-year-old Bahamian professional basketball player, who shares time between the small and power forward positions, has agreed to a new contract with the Hiroshima Dragonflies in the B.League, the highest league of basketball in Japan. The Dragonflies play out of the Western Conference in that league, in Hiroshima, Japan, and currently sit in the eighth position in their division with a 4-12 win/loss record.

St. Fort, who has played professionally in the United States, France and Japan, is looking to make an immediate impact with his new team. He was released by Niigata Albirex BB, another team in Japan’s B.League, three weeks ago, and ended his time with that club averaging 10.7 points, 4.1 rebounds, 0.8 assists and 0.8 blocks per game in 13 games. He shot 64.9 percent from the floor and 46.7 percent from distance. St. Fort scored in double figures seven times in those 13 games and had 20 or more points twice. Prior to that, the 6’ 7” 209-pound forward played two games for Sea Horses Mikawa, which also plays in Japan’s B.League, at the start of the 2020-2021 season.

St. Fort said he is grateful for the opportunity and is looking to contribute in any way that he can.

“I’m going to do my best to contribute to the team as long as possible and help in any way that I can,” he said. “I’m looking forward to playing in front of the Dragonflies fans.”

In St. Fort’s final game with Niigata Albirex BB, on November 14, he scored 13 points on 5-for-5 shooting from the field. He had a season-high 26 points in just under 20 minutes of play against Kyoto Hannryz on October 25. St. Fort finished 10-for-15 from the field that day, shooting 66.7 percent.

Dragonflies Director and General Manager Nobuaki Ito said: “This time, we signed a short contract with St. Fort as a reinforcement of foreign national players…. in the coronavirus misfortunes, it takes a certain time to win a new foreign nationality player from outside the country. Therefore, we have won a short-term contract for players who can quickly meet up with the team. We are especially hoping for St. Fort to contribute in the rebound category.”

St. Fort played collegiately at Savannah State University in Savannah, Georgia, and Warner University in Lake Wales, Florida, and also enjoyed a short stint with The Bahamas’ senior men’s national basketball team. Locally, he played with the Commonwealth Bank Giants, helping that club win a New Providence Basketball Association (NPBA) championship and a Bahamas Basketball Federation (BBF) national title in 2019.

Ironically, St. Fort and the Dragonflies play Kadeem Coleby and the Akita Happinets twice this weekend. Coleby, another Bahamian, is averaging 13.9 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists for the Happinets this season and has helped them to an 8-8 record – good enough for seventh in the Eastern Conference of Japan’s B.League.

On Saturday, the game will tip off at 6:05 p.m., and on Sunday, the game will get underway at 2:05 p.m., both on the Happinets’ home court, the CAN Arena Akita, in Akita, Japan. All times are in Japan Standard Time (JST), 14 hours ahead of local time here in The Bahamas.

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