MANILA – It was a rough start of the year for the San-En NeoPhoenix as they suffered an 81-80 defeat at the hands of Shibuya Sun Rockets in the 2020-21 B.League Season on Saturday night at the Aoyama Gakuin Memorial Hall in Tokyo, Japan.
James Michael McAdoo dealt the heartbreaker to Ilonggo Ferdinand “Thirdy” Ravena III and the NeoPhoenix with his game-winning putback with under a second left for the Sun Rockets.
McAdoo, who won two NBA championships with the Golden State Warriors, was at the right place at right time for the putback with 0.3 seconds left following a missed shot by fellow former NBA player Ryan Kelly.
McAdoo finished the match with 20 points along with seven rebounds while Kelly contributed 13 markers for Shibuya.
The victory was huge for the side of the Sun Rockets as they climbed to an 18-8 win-loss record in the Eastern Conference standings.
The NeoPhoenix raced to an early 24-12 lead early and maintained a double-digit advantage at 80-69 with two minutes to go before the Sun Rockets rallied to within 79-80 with 26 seconds left.
In the next possession, NeoPhoenix’s Hayato Kawashima was called for an offensive foul after a shove of Sun Rockets’ Kosuke Ishii leading the way to the possession that allowed McAdoo to score a game-winner.
Stevan Jelovac tallied double-double 19 points and 16 rebounds while Kyle Hunt finished the match with 17 points, five rebounds, four blocks and three assists before fouling out late in the match for the NeoPhoenix.
Ravena, meanwhile, was held to six points and four rebounds, but failed to finish the game after injuring his right hand.
It was the NeoPhoenix’s fourth consecutive defeat as they slumped to their 21st loss in 26 matches./PN
