By Adrian Stewart Co

Nagoya Diamond Dolphins bucked the offensive struggle of Bobby Ray Parks Jr. as they scored an 89-77 victory over Hokkaido Levanga in the 2021-22 B.League season on Sunday at Dolphin’s Arena.

The former TNT Tropang Giga guard was limited to just four points on 2-of-5 shooting with five rebounds as the Diamond Dolphins completed a weekend sweep of Levanga as they also defeated the latter, 90-60, last Saturday.

Aside from Parks’ poor shooting, the Diamond Dolphins also nearly gave the game away after seeing their once 19-point advantage trimmed to 69-65 with over five minutes in the contest.

Coty Clarke, however, restored order for Nagoya with six straight points and two free throws by Takumi Saito on an unsportsmanlike foul called on Hokkaido’s Ryoma Hashimoto.

Clarke tallied 28 points, nine rebounds, four assists, three steals, and a block. Saito added 17 points and nine assists while Taito Nakahigashi got 14 points as Nagoya went up to 20-8.

Shawn Long, meanwhile, had double-double 27 points and 10 rebounds, while De’Mon Brooks added 16 markers as the visiting Levanga saw their win-loss record dropped to 11-17.

Meanwhile, Dwight Ramos and the Toyama Grouses failed to sustain their early advantage as they suffered a 76-70 defeat at the hands of Mikawa Seahorses at Wing Arena Kariya.

The Grouses seemed headed to back-to-back victory after leading by as much as nine points in the third quarter, but Mikawa turned to Davante Gardner as they surged to a 52-51 lead.

Both teams traded leads since then with Grouses taking a 58-57 edge on a jumper by Ramos before Gardner sparked a 9-2 assault to gain a 70-64 cushion for the Seahorses.

Ramos came off the bench to finish with eight points, while Joshua Smith tallied double-double 14 points and 14 rebounds as the Grouses fell to 11-19 in the standings./ASC, WDJ