MANILA – Kobe Paras cooled down offensively but his Niigata Albirex BB team still notched its first win in the 2021-22 B.League season by defeating Kyoto Hannaryz, 76-75, on Sunday at the City Hall Plaza Aore Nagaoka.
The former University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons forward tallied 10 points, on 5-of-14 field goal shooting, to go with two rebounds.
Niigata notched its first victory in two games.
The 6-foot-6 Paras’ offensive output was a far cry from the 25 points he dropped in his B.League debut on Saturday but was more than enough as Niigata got its payback win over Kyoto.
Battling foul trouble in the entire game, Paras made himself valuable for the Niigata in the fourth quarter. He converted two baskets to trim Kyoto’s 11-point lead to just three points with 1:25 left.
The Gilas Pilipinas mainstay also made the crucial rebound for his squad in the final 27 seconds that led to the go-ahead conversion of Yuto Nohmi that gave Niigata a 76-75 lead.
Nohmi finished with 16 points while Rosco Allen tallied 16 points, six assists, and four rebounds.
David Simon led Kyoto with 21 points, eight rebounds, five assists, and two blocks.
Paras and the Niigata will return to action this weekend against Ilonggo Ferdinand “Thirdy” Ravena and the San-En NeoPhoenix, which came from a 101-96 win over Kiefer Ravena and the Shiga Lakestars on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Filipino-Italian Juan Gomez de Liano contributed 10 points but these were not enough. The Earthfriends Tokyo Z suffered a 100-85 defeat to Kagawa Five Arrows at Temple Municipal Gymnasium in Japan.
De Liano, a teammate of Paras at the Fighting Maroons, came off the bench and played 16 minutes on the floor, shooting 2-of-5 from downtown, to go with two rebounds and one steal.
The Earthfriends, now with an 0-2 win-loss slate, take a week-long breather before going on the road against the Yamagata Wyverns (0-1) at Yamagataken Sogoundo Park on Saturday./PN
