By ADRIAN STEWART CO

Ilonggo Ferdinand “Thirdy” Ravena III and the San-en NeoPhoenix barely escaped the Shimane Susanoo Magic, 85-82, in Japan B.League Division 1 at the Hamamatsu Arena.

The former Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles guard finished with 13 points and one rebound in 18 minutes of action as NeoPhoenix improved to a 32-4 win-loss slate.

Coty Clarke led the way with 21 points, including three outside conversions. Yante Maten added 19 markers, David Dudzinski had a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Sota Oura ended with 11 markers.

Perrin Buford had a double-double of 38 points and 11 rebounds, Nick Kay added 18 points and nine rebounds, and Daichi Taniguchi contributed 10 points as the Magic dropped to 21-15.

Meanwhile, Dwight Ramos and the Levanga Hokkaido (12-24) scored a repeat victory over Kai Sotto and the Yokohama B-Corsairs (15-21), 89-83, at the Yokohama International Pool.

The Gilas Pilipinas mainstay tallied a season-high of 25 points, including three outside conversions, to go with five assists, four rebounds, three steals, and a block for Hokkaido.

Darral Willis, Jr. led the way for Levanga with 28 points and eight rebounds, while De’mon Brooks added 19 points, including four outside conversions, to go with seven rebounds.

Sotto finished with 10 points and two rebounds for the B-Corsairs. Yuki Kawamura tallied 33 points with one triple and Jarrod Uthoff had a double-double of 22 points and 16 rebounds.

For his part, Bobby Ray Parks, Jr. continued his resurgence for the Nagoya Diamond Dolphins (23-13) as they scored a 96-90 victory over the Nagasaki Velca at the Nagasaki Prefectural Gymnasium.

The former TNT Tropang Giga guard finished with 11 points to go with six rebounds and one assist in almost 26 minutes of action for the Diamond Dolphins./ASC, WDJ