Sports

In the 2024 B.League All-Star Game, Ryuichi Kishimoto Excites Fans

The Ryukyu Golden Kings guard, who was named MVP, scored a game-high 24 points in the B.League All-Star Game for B.Black in a narrow loss to B.White.

Published

4 months ago

January 15, 2024

Ed Odeven

B.Black guard Ryuichi Kishimoto shoots a 3-pointer in the 2024 B.League All-Star Game at Okinawa Arena on January 14. (B.LEAGUE)

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Entering the fourth quarter of the 2024 B.League All-Star Game, both teams had played an entertaining 30 minutes of basketball on Sunday afternoon, January 14.

B.Black and B.White were tied 92-92 in the fast-paced contest at Okinawa Arena.

And then, in the fourth quarter, the spotlight shined on local favorite Ryuichi Kishimoto, a native of Okinawa who has played his entire pro career with the Ryukyu Golden Kings.

Kishimoto scored 17 of his game-high 24 points in the fourth quarter. He carried the B.Black offense for stretches of the final period.

Kishimoto attempted 11 3-pointers in the fourth quarter. He made five long-range shots in the final stanza to the delight of his teammates and the upbeat crowd of 7,357.

It was a dynamic performance, but it wasn't enough to lift B.Black, led by Ryukyu coach Dai Oketani, to victory in the Golden Kings' home gym.

B.White outscored B.Black by 11 points in the second half and recorded a 128-123 All-Star Game victory.

Kishimoto, who turned pro in 2013, was selected as the All-Star Game MVP.

"Even though we lost the game, I'm happy," Kishimoto was quoted as saying by The Ryukyu Shimpo.

The popular playmaker added, "I hope to use this opportunity to spread the appeal of basketball from Okinawa.''

3-Pointers Define the Fourth Quarter

Kishimoto buried a pair of 3s for the first points of the fourth quarter, giving B.Black a 98-92 lead with 9:22 remaining.

Another Kishimoto 3 made it 101-92 at the 8:37 mark. Sunrockers Shibuya big man Josh Hawkinson extended the B.Black lead to 11 on a fast-break slam dunk.

B.White followed with an 11-0 run capped by a Naoto Tsuji 3-pointer to even the score at 103-103 with 6:19 to play.

Moments later, Tsuji, a Hiroshima Dragonflies guard, made another 3, tying it at 106-106.

Tsuji's hot shooting continued. He drained another 3-pointer attempt as B.White took a 111-108 advantage, and it quickly extended to 114-108 after ― you guessed it ― another 3-pointer. This time, Nagasaki Velca's Yudai Baba hit his target from beyond the arc with 4:43 remaining.

With under 2 minutes remaining, Yokohama B-Corsairs star Yuki Kawamura, the B.League's leading scorer this season (23.1 points per game), made 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions for B.White, the second of which gave B.White coach John Patrick's team a 125-117 lead at the 1:29 mark.

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Author: Ed Odeven

Find Ed on JAPAN Forward's dedicated website, SportsLook. Follow his [Japan Sports Notebook] on Sundays, [Odds and Evens] during the week, and X (formerly Twitter) ＠ed_odeven.