By ADRIAN STEWART CO

Ilonggo Ferdinand “Thirdy” Ravena III and the San-en NeoPhoenix cruised to a lopsided 96-55 victory over RJ Abarrientos and the Shinshu Brave Warriors in the Japan B.League Division 1 at the Hamamatsu Arena over the weekend.

Ravena, formerly of the Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles, finished with 10 points to go with five rebounds, two assists, one steal, and a block as NeoPhoenix hiked their record to 20-4.

Yante Maten led the way for San-en with a double-double of 24 points and 13 rebounds. Coty Clarke added 16 points and David Dudzinski also ended up with a double-double of 12 points and 10 boards in the win.

Justyn Mutts ended up with 17 points and eight rebounds to banner the Brave Warriors’ scoring, while David Simon chipped in 10 points as they dropped to a 4-20 win-loss slate.

On the other hand, Abarrientos had another limited offensive game with five points, two rebounds, two assists, and one steal, while Matthew Aquino was scoreless to go with four rebounds.

Thirdy’s elder brother, Kiefer Ravena and the Shiga Lakes scored an 81-73 triumph over the Kumamoto Volters in the Division 2 action at the Shiga Daihatsu Arena.

The former NLEX Road Warriors guard had a much better offensive game with 11 points on 3-of-9 shooting to go with two assists and two steals as the Lakes moved up to 19-7.

Brock Motum tallied 21 points, six rebounds and six assists to lead the Lakes.

Ryan Kriener added 18 markers, including two three-point baskets, and Daichi Nomoto contributed 13 points in the win.

“I am very grateful to the players who executed the game plan, even though it was more difficult than usual,” Shiga head coach Danny Gomez said.

“They were able to attack in a well-balanced manner both inside and outside,” he added.

Jamel Mclean and Aaron White both finished with 25 markers to lead the Volters, while Hayate Komasawa added 11 markers as they slumped to a 16-10 record./ASC, WDJ