Friday, July 3 — one game on the slate, and it delivered. Japan traveled to South Sudan and walked away with an 80-74 victory, but it was anything but a smooth ride. South Sudan actually owned the third quarter, outscoring the visitors 24-19 to claw back into it — but Japan answered with a dominant 26-point fourth quarter to seal the deal and pick up a crucial road win.

The headliner? HAON_NTSG of Japan dropped 36 points and dished 7 assists — an absolute takeover performance that carried his squad when they needed it most. Not far behind was NeverLeaveMee, also of Japan, who chipped in 29 points and came up with 2 steals to help lock things down on the other end. Japan got a full team effort tonight.

On the South Sudan side, the story was ID Mamba — 34 points and a game-high 9 assists on a night his team came up short. The man was doing everything he could. And big man ITS BLike put together a double-double — 11 points and 13 rebounds — to keep South Sudan competitive on the glass. It just wasn't enough. HeyGarn quietly stuffed the stat sheet for Japan as well, racking up 8 assists and 11 rebounds in a do-it-all performance off the bench.

With the win, Japan snaps back into the win column and improves to 7-4. South Sudan drops to 5-10 and has now lost back-to-back after a brief one-game winning streak. Meanwhile, Mexico continues to sit atop the standings at 12-2 on an eight-game win streak — the rest of the league is on notice.