Thirdy Ravena and San-en NeoPhoenix absorbed a heartbreaking 84-85 loss to visitors Osaka Evessa in the Japan B. League on Wednesday, November 11, at the Toyohashi City General Gymnasium in Aichi.

San-en had the chance to escape with a win in the last 3.9 seconds of the game, but Atsuya Ota’s pass to Ravena, who was under the basket, fell into the hands of Osaka.

Osaka’s escape spoiled Ravena’s best outing yet of 18 points off a perfect 3-of-3 clip from beyond the arc, to go with 5 rebounds and 3 steals.

American-Jamaican Kyle Hunt topscored for the home team with 28 points.

Evessa hiked their record to 5-8, while San-en fell back to the bottom of the standings with a 2-11 card.

Takuya Hashimoto propelled Osaka to a win after back-to-back losses, going 10-of-16 from the field to finish with 25 points.

With San-en entering the final frame down by 11 points, Ravena led the squad’s fourth-quarter start with a personal 5-0 run off back-to-back breakaway plays.

Ravena then scored half of San-en’s 14-3 run as Hunt also managed to knot the game at 69-all.

But Evessa fended off the fourth-quarter comeback and escaped with the away win.

Serbian center Stevan Jelovac, NeoPhoenix’s scoring leader, had a lackluster performance and only contributed back-to-back threes late in the 4th for his only points of the game.

Evessa nabbed the lead in the 2nd quarter, waxing hot from deep with 4 straight threes to fuel a 10-5 run that proved pivotal.

San-en is in for another uphill climb as it faces defending champion and powerhouse squad Alvark Tokyo in back-to-back away games on November 14 and 15.

The Scores

Osaka 85 – Hashimoto 25, Brown 18, Newville 13, Stutz 11, Harrellson 9, Ito 7, Donley 2, Tokio 0, Tsunono 0, Komamizu 0, Nakamura 0.

San-en 84 – Hunt 28, Ravena 18, Suzuki 9, Kawashima 9, Terazono 7, Jelovac 6, Okada 5, Ota 2, Yamamoto 0, Kitahara 0.

Quarters: 18-20, 44-39, 66-55, 85-84.

– Rappler.com