By ADRIAN STEWART CO

Ilonggo Ferdinand “Thirdy” Ravena III and the San-en NeoPhoenix cruised to a lopsided 103-71 victory over the Shimane Susanoo Magic in the Japan B.League Division 1 at the Hamamatsu Arena on Saturday night, February 3.

The former Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles star tallied 15 points, four rebounds and two assists in almost 26 minutes of action as the NeoPhoenix improved to a 31-4 record.

Yante Maten led the way for NeoPhoenix with 24 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Coty Clarke added 15 points and 11 rebounds, while Kosuke Kanamaru, Kenny Asano and David Dudzinski ended with 12 points each.

Perrin Buford tallied a double-double of 24 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Magic, while Nick Kay and Shota Tsuyama had 10 markers apiece as they dropped to a 21-14 record.

Meanwhile, Dwight Ramos and the Levanga Hokkaido returned to their winning ways as they defeated Kai Sotto and the Yokohama B-Corsairs, 80-73, at the Yokohama International Pool.

The Gilas Pilipinas forward tallied 12 points, including two three-pointers in the fourth quarter, to go with nine rebounds, three assists and one block in 31 minutes of action for Levanga.

Shuto Terazono led the way with 20 points with three outside shots. De’mon Brooks added 18 markers, Darral Willis, Jr. chipped in a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Hiroto Kikuchi ended with 11 points.

Yuki Kawamura finished with 25 points. Josh Scott had 12 points and 15 rebounds, Jarrod Uthoff chipped in 11 points and 10 rebounds, and Sotto contributed nine markers as the B-Corsairs dropped to 15-20.

Bobby Ray Parks, Jr. had his best game of the season for the Nagoya Diamond Dolphins (22-13) as they defeated the Nagasaki Velca (15-20), 91-76, at the Nagasaki Prefectural Gymnasium.

The former TNT Tropang Giga forward finished with a season-high of 19 points, including five three-point conversions, to go with five rebounds, four steals and two assists for Nagoya./ASC, WDJ