By ADRIAN STEWART CO
Ilonggo Kiefer Ravena’s impressive offensive game went for naught as the Shiga Lakes bowed to Altiri Chiba, 116-80, in Japan B.League Division 2 at the Chiba Port Arena on Sunday night, February 4.
The former NLEX Road Warriors guard finished with a team-high of 18 points, including two three-pointers, to go with eight assists and three steals as the Lakes suffered their fourth straight loss to drop to 25-12.
“It was a tough two games, and I am very disappointed that we couldn’t win. In this long season, I think this defeat was very meaningful as we prepare for the next match,” Ravena said.
“I told my teammates that we should never forget those four defeats, and we should never allow something like this to happen in the future for any game. We would like to make this a positive game that will move us in a better direction,” he added.
Yuto Otsuka led the way for Altiri with 18 points. Brandon Ashley and Dererk Pardon added 16 markers apiece, while Alex Davis, Kotetsu Kurokawa and Yuta Osaki had 14, 13 and 11, respectively.
They improved to a 34-3 record.
Brock Motum backed up Ravena offensively for Shiga with 17 points. Hayato Wakugawa tallied 15 markers and Koya Kawamata ended with 13 points in the lopsided loss.
Meanwhile, Roosevelt Adams and the Yamagata Wyverns (20-17) pulled off an 80-78 victory over the Bambitious Nara at their homecourt at the Yamagata Prefectural Sports Park.
The former Terrafirma Dyip guard finished with six points, including one three-pointer, to go with four rebounds, two assists and two steals in almost 21 minutes of action for Yamagata.
James Bell top-scored for the Wyverns with 19 points, including three three-point conversions, while Michael Finke and Timothy Holyfield added 17 and 16 markers, respectively.
On the other hand, Gregory Slaughter was scoreless to go with three rebounds as the Rizing Zephyr Fukuoka (25-12) prevailed over the Aomori Wat’s (19-18), 84-74, at the Aomori Prefectural Budo-kan./ASC, WDJ