MANILA, Philippines -- As the saying goes, all good things eventually come to an end.
The Asia All-Stars’ two-game win-streak in the Japan B.League Asia Rising Star Game has ended, after the Filipino-boosted squad succumbed to the Rising Stars, 124-121, Saturday in Chiba, Japan.
The Asia All-Stars, whose roster is made up of Filipino stalwarts Dwight Ramos, Kiefer Ravena, AJ Edu, Ray Parks and Matthew Wright, led by as much as 18 points in the game but crumbled late to absorb their first loss in the All-Star showcase.
Ryo Sadohara paced the Rising Stars with 28 points on 12-of-20 shooting. Kai King added 25 built on seven 3-pointers.
The Asia All-Stars had an eight-point lead, 102-94, after a Michael Ou dunk within the first minute of the fourth quarter.
But back-to-back 3-pointers by Wakikawa and Tsunoda turned it into just a two-point game, making things interesting down the stretch.
An Edu dunk though pushed the lead anew to seven, 112-105, with 5:47 remaining. But three consecutive triples by the opposing team pushed them ahead, 114-112.
Sun Xiao, Gadiaga Mohammad Al Bashir and Edu then teamed up to give Asia All-Stars the upper hand, 118-114. But triples by Kanechika and King put the Rising Stars ahead again, 120-118, with 2:04 left.
A split from the line by Sadowara put them up by three, 121-118, before Ramos tied things up with a 3-pointer of his own.
But after a Wright miss from beyond the arc, Hachimura dialed in from deep and sank the eventual game-winner, 124-121, with 58 seconds to go.
Misses by Ramos and Ravena down the stretch completed the Rising Stars’ victory.
The squad led by 18, 54-36, in the second quarter after a Parks 3-pointer as they broke the game wide open.
The Rising Stars, however, erupted and unleashed a 24-8 run to slice the deficit to two 60-62, setting up the nip-and-tuck game in the second half.
The Asia All-Stars played without Filipino big man Kai Sotto, who sustained a torn ACL earlier this month.