Ed Odeven 
SeaHorses Mikawa guard Satoshi Nagano runs the offense against the Shiga Lakes on February 9 in Otsu, Shiga Prefecture. (©B.LEAGUE)
Read the full story on SportsLook - SeaHorses Mikawa Making a Push to Clinch a Playoff Spot
With four consecutive victories, the SeaHorses Mikawa have strengthened their playoff hopes.
The B.League club is also on track to surpass its win total from the 2023-24 season when it had a 36-24 record and squeezed into the playoffs by the thinnest of margins ― one game.
Mikawa holds a two-game lead over the Chiba Jets (24-13) in the wild-card standings. (The top two teams in each of the three conferences plus two wild-card teams qualify for the playoffs in May.)
Led by second-year bench boss Ryan Richman, a former NBA assistant coach with the Washington Wizards, the SeaHorses are one of the B.League's top teams on offense. They are third in the 24-team league in field-goal shooting accuracy (46.8%) and No 6 in scoring (81.7 points per game).
The SeaHorses (26-11) completed a two-game sweep of the struggling Shiga Lakes on Sunday, February 9, cruising to a 110-73 victory.
In Otsu, Shiga Prefecture, all 12 Mikawa players who entered the game put points on the board, including forward Jake Layman (21 points, 5-for-8 from 3-point range). Frontcourt mate Zach Auguste, a University of Notre Dame alum, chipped in with 19 points on 9-for-12 shooting. Davante Gardner and Yoshiaki Kubota added 12 and 11 points, respectively.
The Lakes (3-33) trailed 61-42 at halftime.
SeaHorses Mikawa Shine on Defense in the 3rd Quarter
Entering the fourth quarter, Shiga faced an 86-53 deficit.
"We were able to hold Shiga to 11 points in the third quarter, and I think the aggressive defense of the starting five led to the result," Richman told reporters after the game.
In addition to their effective defense, the SeaHorses did a commendable job running their offense, as evidenced by their 29 assists and six turnovers.
Although the Lakes have the worst record among the B.League's first-division squads, Richman pointed out that nobody's guaranteed a victory in pro basketball.
"Shiga is a young team that plays aggressively," Richman said on Sunday. "They are a team that can get a win on the road against the Sunrockers Shibuya (21-16 overall record), a team that is competing with us for the top spot [in the Central Conference], so we made it a point to play with a high level of concentration and not to take this game lightly. The players and staff embodied this.
"[For us], I think this game was played with mental focus."
The SeaHorses beat the Lakes 99-80 in the series opener on Saturday, February 8. Auguste scored a season-high 31 points, making 14 of 15 shots from the floor, to lead his team to victory.
Continue reading the full story on SportsLook.
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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.
