By ADRIAN STEWART CO

Ilonggo Kiefer Ravena delivered timely conversions in the endgame as the Shiga Lakes pulled off a 78-75 victory over the Veltex Shizuoka in Japan B.League Division 2 at the Shiga Daihatsu Arena.

Holding to a slim 67-66 lead with over a minute left, James Burrell scored back-to-back baskets, followed by a conversion from Ravena, to widen the lead to 73-66 with 1:10 remaining.

After a conversion from Shizuoka, Ravena connected with five free throws with less than a minute left as Shiga stretched the advantage to 78-73 before Veltex connected late for the final score.

Ravena top-scored for the Lakes with 19 points, including one three-point conversion, to go with five rebounds and five assists, earning him the praise of head coach Danny Gomez.

“I think when Ravena took over in the end, it showed the feeling of a winner who was determined to make it through. Of course, Ravena has experience,” Gomez said in a post-game interview.

“I think if other players played more games than Kiefer, their understanding of basketball would be different,” he said.

“We have been doing well in practice, but I think the challenge is how to apply that to the game,” he added.

Ryan Kriener backed up Ravena offensively with 17 points and seven rebounds, while Burrell contributed 10 markers as the Lakes scored back-to-back victories for a 27-12 win-loss slate.

Kenny Lawson, Jr. finished with 23 points and seven rebounds, John Harrar had a double-double of 20 points and 11 rebounds, and Thomas Bropleh contributed 16 as they dropped to a 16-23 record.

Meanwhile, Roosevelt Adams and the Yamagata Wyverns (20-19) suffered a lopsided 103-69 defeat to Altiri Chiba (36-3) at the Chiba Port Arena.

The former top-overall pick of Terrafirma Dyip finished with just five points, including one three-point conversion, to go with four rebounds, two assists and one steal for the Wyverns./ASC, WDJ