Thirdy Ravena and the San-en NeoPhoenix enjoyed their first back-to-back away game sweep as they defeated the Hokkaido Levanga, 80-74, on December 13, 2020 at at the Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center in Sapporo.

The sweep propelled San-en to a tie with Levanga at 4-17 in the standings.

The NeoPhoenix are one win away from matching their win record of 5 games in the last completed Japan B. League season.

“We know that Hokkaido is a good team and they will try to bounce back. So we prepared for this kind of game. We didn’t lose concentration,” said NeoPhoenix coach Branislav Vićentić. (READ: San-en blows out Hokkaido in Thirdy Ravena’s return)

Though Ravena only played limited minutes in the first half and failed to chip in offensively, Stevan Jelovac and Kyle Hunt stepped up to record massive double-doubles for the team.

Serbian import Jelovac led San-en with 22 points and 10 rebounds, while Hunt put up 20 points and 15 boards.

Ravena joined San-en for the first time this weekend after recovering from COVID-19, which he contracted in Japan late November.

Player of the game Hayato Kawashima also dropped 19 points off an 8-of-12 clip from the field.

As the host squad entered the final frame with a one-point lead, 55-54, San-en rallied back with a massive 15-3 run to nail the advantage.

Hokkaido threatened San-en as it closed the gap to a one-possession game, 69-72, in the last 1:34 minutes of the game, but Kawashima and Jelovac combined to pull away for the win.

Jordan Taylor stepped up for Levanga – who are missing the league’s best scorer Nick Mayo due to concussion concerns – with 21 points to go with 5 boards and 6 assists.

San-en hopes to continue its winning streak as the NeoPhoenix will host Niigata on Saturday, December 19 and Sunday, December 20 in Toyohashi.

The Scores

San-en 80 – Jelovac 22, Hunt 20, Kawashima 19, Terazuno 6, Nishikawa 6, Suzuki 5, Ota 2, Ravena 0, Yamamoto 0, Miljenovic 0.

Hokkaido 74 – Taylor 21, Tamaki 10, Williams 9, Hashimoto 8, Uchida 8, Kuzuhara 6, Tajima 6, Nakano 3, Faye 3, Maki 0, Sakurai 0.

Quarters: 19-19, 35-39, 54-55, 80-74.

– Rappler.com