Ravena defers to hot hands in Shiga stampede over Kyoto

The Shiga Lakestars left nothing up to chance in their second straight match against the Kyoto Hannaryz home team, and ultimately finished with a 95-72 blowout in Japan B. League action on Sunday, October 17.

Kiefer Ravena again deferred to numerous teammates with hotter hands, and finished with just 6 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists off a 17-minute run in the easy rematch, a stark contrast to the 84-83 squeaker they earned less than 24 hours earlier.

Import big man Sean O’mara led the comfortable cruise with a monster 22-point, 15-rebound double-double, while local guards Reon Shibuta and Teppei Kashiwagura chipped in 15 and 14 markers, respectively.

Sunday’s winning forecast was way clearer this time around for the Lakestars as they turned a 46-48 deficit early in the third quarter to a sudden 70-51 gap off a massive 24-3 run capped by a Shotaro Hayashi triple with 52 seconds left.

The stunned Hannaryz then failed to make any significant defensive headway in the final frame as Ravena, who sat out the last 14 minutes of the game, enjoyed the view from the bench while his teammates ran up the score in garbage time.

Former NBA player and PBA import Justin Harper led the sorry loss with 20 points and 9 rebounds, while Tatsuya Suzuki was the only other Kyoto player in double-digit scoring with 13 markers on 5-of-11 shooting.

Ravena will meet another familiar face next weekend as he and the Lakestars try to keep their league-leading 5-1 record steadily rising against the improving Ray Parks and the Nagoya Diamond Dolphins on Saturday and Sunday, October 23 and 24.

The Scores

Shiga 95 – O’mara 22, Shibuta 15, Kashiwagura 14, Soko 14, Gadson 11, Hayashi 9, Ravena 6, Imagawa 2, Kawamata 2, Nomoto 0, Tobin 0.

Kyoto 72 – Harper 20, Suzuki 13, Kubota 8, Smith 7, Nagayoshi 7, Aita 3, Utsumi 3, Uchida 2.

Quarters: 20-23, 42-31, 70-51, 95-72.

– Rappler.com