Japan completed a home-and-away sweep of Taiwan to begin the 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup Asian Group B qualifiers in New Taipei City. On Monday night, December 1, one of the quieter days on the autumn sports calendar, Japan coach Tom Hovasse's squad recorded an 80-73 victory.
Yudai Nishida (SeaHorses Mikawa) led Akatsuki Japan with 18 points, including 3-for-6 on 3-point attempts. Former NBA forward Yuta Watanabe (Chiba Jets) had 14 points, nine rebounds and a game-high four blocks in 37-plus minutes. Center Josh Hawkinson (Sunrockers Shibuya) played all 40 minutes and finished with a double-double (13 points, 11 boards). Takumi Saito (Nagoya Diamond Dolphins) and Yuki Togashi (Jets) chipped in with eight points apiece.
Taiwan led 22-17 after the first quarter. Japan pulled ahead in the second quarter and took a 42-36 lead into the second half. It was tied 57-57 at the end of the third quarter. Then the visitors outscored Taiwan 23-16 in the final quarter.
In the teams' Asian qualifiers opener on Friday, November 28 in Kobe, shooting guard Keisei Tominaga (Levanga Hokkaido) provided a scoring spark in the first half, scoring all 13 of his points. Japan went on to win 90-64.
Tominaga struggled in the rematch, making 1 of 10 shots and scoring three points.
On Monday, Justin Lu was Taiwan's top scorer (19 points).
All 12 professional players selected for the Japan squad for the Taiwan games compete in the B.League.
Insights from Japan Coach Hovasse After Rematch
"That was a tough game," Hovasse told a news conference.
He noted that Taiwan "came out firing, hitting 3s. There was a lot of energy in the arena, and what I'm really proud of with our players is a lot of times when you play an away game and you get down, it can turn ugly.
"But our guys just slowly but surely steadied the ship. We got back in the game. In the second quarter, we really turned it around into our type of game."
Hovasse said Japan's veteran players were key to the team's strong fourth-quarter effort to seal the win.
"The bottom line is we won, and we are 2-0 right now, and it was a great start for our World Cup journey," Hovasse went on to say.
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Golf
Suzuki Wins Final Event of JLPGA Tour Season
Ai Suzuki defeated Chisato Iwai in a playoff in the season-ending JLPGA Tour Championship Ricoh Cup on Sunday, November 30, in Miyazaki.
In a one-hole playoff, Suzuki shot par on the par-4 18th hole, while Iwai finished with a bogey.
Both golfers were tied at 9-under 279 after the fourth round.
Ayaka Furue, Miyuu Abe and Jiyai Shin finished in a three-way tie for third at 5-under 283.
Suzuki, 31, claimed her 22nd JLPGA Tour career title and her second victory of 2025. It was her first triumph in a Japanese women's golf major since the LPGA Championship Konica Minolta Cup in September 2016.
Shuri Sakuma, who turns 23 on December 11, had the best overall season on the women's tour, capturing four tournament titles and finishing No 1 in prize money (¥227.3 million JPY, or about $1.46 million USD). Sakuma also had the lowest scoring average (70.0585 per round).
On a related note, the men's professional Japan Golf Tour wraps up its 2025 campaign with the Golf Nippon Series JT Cup (December 4-7) at Tokyo Yomiuri Country Club.
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Soccer
Mito Hollyhock Promoted to J.League 1st Division
Manager Naoki Mori guided Mito Hollyhock to the 2025 J.League second-division championship, with the team clinching the title on goal difference.
As a result, Mito earned promotion to J1, aka the first division, for the first time for the 2026 season.
On the final day of the season, Hollyhock defeated visiting Oita Trinita 2-0 on Saturday, November 29 in Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture. Keisuke Tada and Hayata Yamamoto scored in the 46th and 75th minutes, respectively at K's Denki Stadium Mito.
Mori's squad finished with a 20-10-8 record (70 points) and had a plus-21 goal difference.
Second-place V-Varen Nagasaki, who went 19-13-6 (70 points), had a plus-19 goal difference.
V-Varen and Tokushima Vortis played to a 1-1 draw in another match on the last day of the campaign.
As the J2 runner-up, Nagasaki will also move up to J1 next season.
"It's quite unbelievable," Mori said of Hollyhock's title-winning season, according to Kyodo News. "We dropped two games after going one win away from promotion and left the fans anxious. But it really is great to clinch it at this stadium in front of our fans. We'll take the J1 by storm next year."
In J1, the Kashima Antlers (22-7-8, 73 points) hold a one-point lead over Kashiwa Reysol (20-12-5, 72) heading into the final weekend of the season.
The Antlers face 14th-place Yokohama F Marinos on Saturday, December 6, and Reysol play host to sixth-place FC Machida Zelvia.
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American Football
Hawaii Kicker Matsuzawa Named Finalist for Lou Groza Award
University of Hawaii senior place-kicker Kansei Matsuzawa was recently selected as one of three finalists for the 2025 Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award.
Georgia Tech's Aidan Birr and Oklahoma's Tate Sandell are the other finalists.
During his spectacular 2025 season, Matsuzawa is 25-for-26 on field-goal attempts. He missed his final field-goal attempt of the regular season. On point-after attempts, the Tokyo native is 37-for-37.
The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors (8-4) wrapped up their regular season with a 27-7 home triumph over the Wyoming Cowboys on November 29. Now they are waiting for their upcoming college football bowl game assignment.
A panel that included more than 100 college football head coaches, sports information directors, media members, active NFL kickers and ex-Groza Award finalists chose the three finalists.
The 34th Lou Groza Award will be presented to the winner as part of The Home Depot College Football Awards banquet on December 12.
Skateboarding
Shirai Leads Japanese Sweep in WST Event in Kitakyushu
Sora Shirai outscored compatriots Kairi Netsuke and Yukito Aoki in the men's street skateboarding competition on Sunday, November 30, to close out the 2025 World Skateboarding Tour season.
The final tour stop was held in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, where Shirai amassed 170.27 points, capitalizing on a gutsy final trick to climb ahead of Netsuke (169.78) in the standings.
Aoki secured third place on 165.91.
"I had something higher up my sleeve but I needed a 90 to move up to first," Shirai, a two-time Olympian said, according to Olympics.com. "There was some risk but not a lot, and I went with something only I could do in order to win. So I used the same trick I used in Rome and I’m glad it did well."
During the four-day event in Kitakyushu, 184 skateboarders from 45 nations participated in men's and women's events.
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.
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