By ADRIAN STEWART CO

Ilonggo Kiefer Ravena and the Shiga Lakes cruised to a 105-83 victory over the Ehime Orange Vikings in Japan B.League Division 2 at the Imabari Central Municipal Gymnasium on Sunday night, November 26.

The former NLEX Road Warriors guard finished with six points, five assists and two rebounds in almost 19 minutes of action as the Lakes improved to an 11-6 win-loss slate.

Ryan Kriener led the way with 26 points, five rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Brock Motum and Hayato Wakugawa added 18 markers apiece, while Daichi Nomoto contributed 15 markers for the Lakes.

According to Lakes head coach Dabby Gomez, he was happy with the defensive efforts shown by his players in their two victories against the Orange Vikings over the weekend.

“One of the keys to our victory was our defense,” Gomez said in a post-game interview.

“I’m proud of the players for being able to do that. I think we were able to prepare our game plan well,” he said.

“All of the players were able to play, and although not all of them, most of the players were able to score. So I think we were able to show that we are playing as a team,” he added.

Tucker Haymond top-scored with 20 points. Eugene Phelps and Jabari Narcis added 16 markers apiece, while Takumi Furuno and Yoshihiko Toshino had 12 and 11, respectively, as the Orange Vikings dropped to a 5-12 record.

Meanwhile, Gregory Slaughter and Rizing Zephyr Fukuoka pulled off a close 74-69 victory against the Fukushima Firebonds at the Horaiya Koriyama Gymnasium.

The former Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings center logged in just one minute and contributed one rebound and committed two fouls as Fukuoka improved to a 14-3 win-loss slate.

Hiroki Taniguchi top-scored with 14 points, including two three-pointers. Toshikazu Kato and Pablo Aguilar added 12 markers apiece, while Gavin Ware ended with 10 points for Fukuoka./ASC, WDJ