Thirdy Ravena’s arrival propelled San-en NeoPhoenix to an away win over the Shimane Susanoo Magic, 83-82, on Saturday, November 7 at the Yonago Industrial Gymnasium in Shimane.

Ravena, who is making his professional basketball debut, chipped in 13 points, 2 assists and 2 rebounds to lead San-en to its 2nd win in the 2020-2021 season.

Serbian center Stevan Jelovac continued to lead the NeoPhoenix in scoring with 22 points and 8 boards, while American-Jamaican big man Kyle Hunt chipped in 15 points.

“I think we showed character and big heart. It’s very hard to beat this good team Shimane. I want to congratulate my boys. We’re a special group of players,” said San-en head coach Branislav Vićentić.

With the win, San-en improves to 2-9, while the Magic drop to 5-6 in the standings.

After introducing himself to the B. League with a dunk for his first field goal, Ravena had a shaky start – only producing 3 points by the half.

But the Filipino stalwart bounced back as he scored 8 points alone in final frame to stretch San-en’s lead to 8 points, 77-69.

Host team Shimane, though, rallied from the deficit to overtake the lead 82-81 with 19 seconds left in the game.

Veteran guard Hayato Kawashima, though, drew a crucial foul with 3.6 seconds to go and sank both his charities for the win.

Ravena’s professional basketball debut in the B. League marks his first 5-on-5 game in 8 months since the Philippines went into lockdown last March.

Demon Brooks led Shimane’s offense with 19 points, while Nika Williams recorded a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds.

San-en and Shimane will meet again on Sunday, November 8 at 12:35pm, Manila time.

The Scores:

San-en 83 – Jelovac 22, Hunt, 15, Terazono 13, Kawashima 13, Ravena 13, Suzuki 4, Nishikawa 2, Ota 1, Yamamoto 0, Kitahra 0, Okada 0.

Shimane 82 – Brooks 19, Reid 17, Sugiura 12, Williams 11, Buford 8, Kitagawa 6, Abe 3, Hashimoto 3, Yamashita 2, Kosaka 1, Shirahama 0, , Kamizato 0.

Quarters: 22-19, 41-42, 63-62, 83-82.

– Rappler.com