MANILA – Ferdinand “Thirdy” Ravena III got back at his elder brother Kiefer Ravena as San-En NeoPhoenix prevailed over Shiga Lakestars, 101-96, in the 2021-22 B.League on Sunday at the Ukaruchan Arena in Shiga, Japan.
The Iloilo City native Thirdy finished the game with a B.League career-high 21 points to go with seven rebounds and five assists.
The NeoPhoenix notched its first win in two games so far. It actually fell by as much as 18 points in the third period but roared its way back in the contest in the fourth quarter and later forced an overtime with an 85-all score.
San-En went on with its rampage in the overtime with Elias Harris scoring on a layup and Robert Carter converting an inside basket and a three-pointer for a 94-87 advantage.
Ovie Soko and Kiefer answered with three straight points for the Lakestars but Thirdy slammed the door on the opposition with a backbreaking trey to make it a 97-89 advantage with 2:17 left.
Harris finished with 18 points, 10 rebounds, three steals, two assists, and two blocks, as Carter added 17 points on 3-of-6 clip from three-point line, on top of his three rebounds and three dimes for the NeoPhoenix.
“It definitely felt better than yesterday (Saturday night) because this is kind of the opposite from what yesterday’s game was,” the younger Ravena said in a post-game interview.
Kiefer also had a solid outing in his second game in Japan’s B.League with 20 points, seven assists and a perfect 9-of-9 free throw shooting for the Lakestars, which dropped to 1-1.
On Saturday night, Kiefer and the Lakestars got the better of Thirdy and NeoPhoenix, 93-83, with the former tallying 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the field with eight assists and three steals with no turnovers.
Thirdy and the NeoPhoenix will next face Niigata Albirex BB, which will be led by another Filipino import in Kobe Paras, as Kiefer and the Lakestars battle Ibaraki Robots, the team being reinforced by Filipino-Italian Javi Gomez de Liaño, next weekend./PN
