Thirdy's San-En sweeps Ramos' Levanga; Parks suffers first loss

MANILA, Philippines – Thirdy Ravena and the San-En NeoPhoenix continued their mastery over Dwight Ramos and the Levanga Hokkaido as they cruised to a 93-80 victory in the Japan B. League on Sunday, October 9, at the Toyohashi City Gymnasium in Aichi.

Ravena started for San-En and played over 21 minutes, tallying an all-around game of 10 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals.

The 25-year-old Ravena helped the NeoPhoenix erase an early deficit on the way to a weekends sweep of Levanga for a 2-2 record.

Ramos, who topscored for Hokkaido with 15 on Saturday, again delivered stellar numbers of 20 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1 steal in over 31 minutes in the sorry loss.

Levanga immediately built a 19-12 lead in the opening quarter, with Ramos delivering the best highlight of that run as he drove past Ravena all the way for an uncontested right-handed slam dunk.

Despite trailing early, San-En remained focused and unleashed a 16-0 run to wrest the lead, 28-19, at the 7:32 mark of the second quarter.

Ravena then assisted the team’s last field goal at the end of the first half as San-En erected a 45-29 advantage heading into the third frame.

NeoPhoenix never looked back from there, adding to the early campaign misery to Levanga, who remained winless in four games.

In another Division 1 clash, Ryukyu Golden Kings dealt Ray Parks Jr. and the Nagoya Diamond Dolphins their first loss, 91-82, at the Dolphins Arena in Nagoya.

Ryukyu’s Filipino import Jay Washington did not see action a day after going scoreless in 2 minutes of play. Instead, the Kings leaned on former PBA import Allen Durham, who dropped 22 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and a steal.

Parks, on the other hand, maintained his stellar play in the league as he posted 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting.

Both Nagoya and Ryukyu wound up with 3-1 records.

Kiefer Ravena, the older brother of Thirdy, sustained his double-digit scoring as he put up 11 points in Shiga Lakes’ 107-100 double overtime triumph over Niigata Albirex BB at the Ukaru-chan Arena in Otsu.

Ravena also tallied 4 rebounds and 5 assists to help the Lakes improve to 2-2.

After Kai Toews drilled a stepback three-pointer to send the game to a second overtime period, Shiga pulled ahead and never trailed again to send Niigata to a heartbreaking loss.

Over in Division 2, Jordan Heading and the Nagasaki Velca trounced the Kagawa Five Arrows, 95-74, at the Nagasaki Prefectural Gymnasium.

Heading spearheaded the attack with 27 points on 10-of-17 shooting, 2 rebounds, and 7 assists as Nagasaki hiked its record to 3-1.

Roosevelt Adams, the top pick in the 2019 PBA Rookie Draft, has yet to play with the Five Arrows since signing with the team last month.