Basketball: Ex-NBA player Yuta Watanabe helps Jets win B-League opener

FUNABASHI, Japan (Kyodo) — Former NBA forward Yuta Watanabe had 16 points and eight rebounds in his Japanese B-League debut Saturday as the Chiba Jets beat the Utsunomiya Brex 91-84 in overtime.

D.J. Hogg scored a team-leading 26 points for the Jets at LaLa arena Tokyo-Bay in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, while the Brex’s D.J. Newbill scored a game-high 35 points and sent the game into overtime at 77-77 with a late three-point basket.

Watanabe played a total of 213 games over six NBA seasons, the longest any Japanese player has lasted in the world’s top basketball league.

The 2.06-meter wing is expected to be the B-League’s biggest draw in light of both his NBA exploits and his leading role for the men’s national team.