As Thirdy Ravena returned to action, San-en NeoPhoenix flashed their best form as they drubbed home squad Hokkaido Levanga, 83-69, on Saturday, December 12 at the Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center in Sapporo.

The victory ended San-en’s sorry eight-game losing streak to push its record up to 3-17, while Levanga dropped to 4-16 in the standings.

“We feel good. First of all, it was a very important game for us,” said San-en NeoPhoenix coach Branislav Vićentić. “Finally, we have all our imports together. We’re finally going to practice together, we’re playing good, and we stopped our losing streak.”

American-Jamaican Kyle Hunt led San-en, recording a double-double of 22 points and 11 rebounds while Serbian import Stevan Jelovac dropped 21 points and 10 boards.

Ravena, who recovered from COVID-19, managed to chip in 5 points to go with 3 rebounds and 2 assists.

The visiting squad pulled away with a pivotal 10-0 run in the 2nd quarter after Levanga came close to taking back the lead in the early low- scoring affair.

San-en stretched the lead to 20 points, 50-30, in the 7:08 mark of the 3rd quarter thanks to a triple from Takanobu Nishikawa.

Hokkaido’s Jawad Williams lifted his team with 15 points as the home squad was without American import Nick Mayo, who was sidelined due to an injury.

Both teams will meet again on Sunday, December 13, at 1:05 pm, Manila time.

The Scores

San-en 83 – Hunt 22, Jelovac 21, Nishikawa 11, Suzuki 9, Ravena 5, Yamamoto 5, Kawashima 4, Terazuno 2, Ota 2, Miljenovic 2.

Hokkaido 69 – Williams 15, Tajima 14, Taylor 9, Nakano 7, Kuzuhara 6, Hashimoto 5, Faye 5, Maki 3, Uchida 3, Tamaki 2, Sakurai 0.

Quarters: 17-12, 41-28, 63-43, 83-69

– Rappler.com