Matthew Wright is returning to Japan.

The 35-year-old, Filipino-Canadian has signed with Saitama for the 2025-26 B.League One season.

It has been a long journey back to professional basketball for Wright.

“My family and I cannot wait to embrace the city of Saitama and the Broncos organization. I’m looking forward to coming back to Japan and making an immediate impact on the team,” he said.

“Thank you for this opportunity to showcase my talents on the basketball court.”

(C) POC Media

After spending six years with PBA club Phoenix, Wright made the move to Japan in 2022, joining Kyoto, where he played through the 2022-24 season.

He then transferred to Kawasaki for the 2024-25 campaign, averaging 10.4 points, 2.6 assists, and 2.5 rebounds per game.

Following that season, Wright stepped away from basketball for a year to care for his ailing mother.

His lone appearance during his hiatus came with Gilas Pilipinas Men, whom he helped win the gold medal at the 34th Southeast Asian Games.

Now, Wright is set to resume his professional career in Japan with Saitama.

The post After year away, Matthew Wright makes B.League comeback with Saitama appeared first on Tiebreaker Times.

Converge proved lucky enough and escaped with a 15-103 decision against the hard-fighting Terrafirma, 105-103, for its second win in as many outings in the PBA Season 50 Governors’ Cup at the SMART Araneta Coliseum Wednesday.

The FiberXers witnessed their 16-point lead become just a field goal with 1:16 left to play behind Juami Tiongson’s triple as the Dyip pulled off a comeback eerily similar to what they did against NLEX just last Sunday in Montalban.

And just like versus the Road Warriors, they had the final possession of the match in their hands for a chance to go for the kill but also missed, with Maverick Ahanmisi missing the potential game-winning four as time expired.

Coach Delta Pineda & Co. would go on to heave a sigh of relief as they stayed at second in Group A behind the still unbeaten NLEX, who owns a 3-0 record.

Justin Arana top-scored for Converge with 31 points and 10 rebounds. Juan Gomez de Liano back-stopped the star big with 19 points.

Justine Baltazar notched a double-double of his own with 16 points and 14 rebounds plus two blocks, none bigger than his denial on Aljon Mariano when the veteran big man went for the game-tying layup with 24.5 seconds left.

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Namuwongo Blazers are set to take on JT Jaguars in the National Basketball League encounter at Abja Park, Nalya, on Wednesday.

The Namuwongo Blazers stand just one victory away from the NBL semi-finals. However, head coach Stephen Nyeko is leaving absolutely no room for complacency ahead of their crucial Game Two clash against the JT Jaguars.

The Blazers took first blood in the best-of-three quarter-final series with a convincing 77-60 victory in Game One. Despite the double-digit margin, Coach Nyeko remains highly alert to the looming threats of a playoff rematch, warning his team that the hard work is far from finished.

A dominant performance by forward Fataki Nyembo, who registered a double-double of 21 points and 11 rebounds, powered the Blazers’ offensive engine in Game One.

On the other end of the floor, JT Jaguars’ Ian Lubwama put up a valiant fight, dropping a game-high 22 points to keep his side within fighting distance.

For Coach Nyeko, the formula for keeping the Jaguars at bay rests entirely on defensive discipline and tactical flexibility.

“The defence was impressive, the switch from man-to-man, the zone, but also looking at how we blend in what we did during practice,” Nyeko said, reflecting on the Game One triumph. “So I think we tried to execute. Defence wins games.”

While the Blazers comfortably beat the Jaguars in the regular season by much larger margins, Nyeko was quick to acknowledge that playoff basketball is an entirely different beast.

“JT Jaguars came in hard,” Nyeko admitted. “If you see the regular season, we beat them home and away by a bigger margin. However, this was close because it’s a playoff game. In the playoffs, people make adjustments. They came in tough, and we expected this.”

With their backs against the wall, the Jaguars are expected to make major strategic tweaks to keep their season alive. To counter this, Nyeko has demanded an even sharper defensive output from his players in Game Two, identifying clear areas of vulnerability that must be patched up immediately.

“Going into Game Two, we still have to improve our defence,” the tactician demanded. “We had lapses in defence, especially the man-to-man. So, we have to limit easy baskets.”

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