The Wheel Blacks have their work cut out for them for the remainder of the 2017 Asia-Oceania Zone Championships after going down 56-40 to Japan.
Hosted in Auckland, New Zealand put in a brave performance but Japan proved too clinical for the Kiwis.
Whangarei's Cameron Leslie is a member of the side and put in a strong showing but couldn't quite get the Wheel Blacks over the line.
The loss took their record at the competition to 1-2 after splitting their opening outings.
They lost the first match to Australia 72-43 before bouncing back to topple Korea 53-40.