MANILA – Ferdinand “Thirdy” Ravena III and the San-En NeoPhoenix emerged triumphant over Bobby Ray Parks Jr. and the Nagoya Diamond Dolphins, 94-80, in the Japan B.League on Wednesday night at the Toyohashi General Gymnasium.
The Iloilo City native tallied 20 points, including three outside conversions, to go with three rebounds and three assists as the NeoPhoenix scored back-to-back victories to improve to 11-12.
Parks, on the other hand, was held to just 11 points, with just two three-point connections, along with four steals and two rebounds. The Diamond Dolphins saw their winning run snapped to drop to 17-6.
Ravena got plenty of support, with Kazuki Hosokawa leading the NeoPhoenix with 25 points. Former NBA center Kyle O’Quinn added 15 markers and Isaiah Hicks ended with 14 points.
On the part of the Diamond Dolphins, Coty Clark flirted with triple-double with 19 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, while Takumi Saito and Morris N’Dour finished with 18 and 10, respectively.
Meanwhile, Matthew Wright and the Kyoto Hannary’s got the better of Ilonggo Kiefer Ravena and the Shiga Lakestars, 89-72, in a battle of two former PBA players at the latter’s homecourt at Shiga Daihatsu Arena.
Wright got a better offensive showing for Kyoto with 16 points, including four three-point connections, to go with five assists, four rebounds and two steals as they improved to 8-15.
Kiefer, meanwhile, was limited to 11 points after converting just four of his 12 fieldgoal attempts to go with two rebounds and two assists as the Lakestars slumped to a 4-19 win-loss slate.
Jerod Utoff provided offensive support to Wright and the Hannary’s with 25 points, while Shek Diallo, Nova Gadson and Kanta Mizuno also hit double-digits in offense with 15, 13 and 10, respectively.
Former NBA player Jordan Hamilton, meanwhile, led the Lakestars with 19 points, 11 rebounds and six assists, while David Doblas contributed 12 markers and five rebounds in the loss./PN
