Kadeem Coleby and Mark St. Fort returned to action in the Japanese B1 and B2 leagues respectively over the weekend after being out of action since January 3. In their return, their respective teams split their two-game series.
Coleby and the Akita Northern Happinets (19-10) welcomed the Kawasaki Brave Thunders (18-11) to the CAN Arena in Akita, Japan on Saturday and Sunday. The Happinets took down the Brave Thunders, 96-81, on Sunday. The visitors won the first matchup, 80-67, on Saturday.
The Happinets hold the fifth position in the Eastern Conference standings in the B1 league.
St. Fort made his debut for his new team in the B2 league, Fukushima Firebonds (14-16), when they took on the Kumamoto Volters (17-15) this past weekend. The games were played at the Kumamoto Gymnasium in Kumamoto, Japan. St. Fort and his team won the first game 86-79 on Saturday. The Volters returned the favor on Sunday when they won 82-71.
The Firebonds sits in sixth place in the Eastern Conference standings in the league.
Coleby had a strong performance on Sunday, finishing with 17 points. He was one rebound short of a double-double, corralling a team-high nine boards. The center was efficient from the field, going 7-for-8, shooting 87.5 percent. He finished 3-for-4 from the charity stripe.
Coleby was a key cog his team’s first quarter 26-17 advantage. He scored seven of his 17 points in that stanza on 3-for-4 shooting from the field and was disruptive on defensive end with two steals in just over seven minutes of play. That quarter set up the Happinets for a dominant first half as they also went on to outscore their opponent in the second quarter, 24-16, to take a 50-31 first-half lead. Coleby scored five points and got his last steal of the game in almost four minutes of play in that quarter.
Although the Brave Thunders had a better offensive half after the intermission with 48 points, the Happinets were able to keep their lead intact as they scored 46 points to hold on to the lead and get their 19th win of the season.
Masashi Hosoya led the Happinets with 18 points. The Brave Thunders’ Nick Fazelas led the visitors with game-highs in scoring and rebounding with 19 points and 12 rebounds in the loss.
Coleby finished with eight points on 4-for-7 shooting from the field in the loss on Saturday. He shot 57.1 percent from the field and finished with five rebounds and two assists in 23 minutes of play.
The Brave Thunders led 54-50 at the end of the third quarter in this game. The Happinets paid for their lack of defense in the fourth quarter. They were outscored 26-17 in that quarter and lost the game.
Up next for Coleby and the Happinets will be a matchup against Levanga Hokkaido Sapporo (9-20) on Wednesday. That game is set to tip-off at 7:05 p.m. local time in Akita, 14 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time (EST) here in The Bahamas.
In his debut for his new team on Saturday, St. Fort scored six points, shooting 1-for-7 from the field. He was 4-for-6 from the free throw line. St. Fort finished with seven rebounds and five assists in the win. Defensively he had two blocks in 22 minutes of play.
After the hosts took a 30-23 lead at the end of the quarter, St. Fort and his team used a 23-13 second quarter advantage to take a 46-43 lead at the half. The Firebonds controlled the second half. They had a 68-60 lead heading into the fourth quarter, and St. Fort scored all six of his points in that quarter to help his team get this chapter of his career started with a win.
St. Fort scored four points in Sunday’s loss as he only took two shots and made a three-pointer. He also finished with four rebounds, one assist and a steal in 12 productive minutes.
The Firebonds will return home to play on Wednesday when they take on the Sendai 89ers at the Horaiya Koriyama Gymnasium, in Fukushima, Japan. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m., 14 hours ahead of EST.
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source https://thenassauguardian.com/coleby-st-fort-return-to-action-in-japan/
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