MANILA – Kiefer Ravena and Shiga Lakes continued their winning ways in Japan B.League Division 2 after a dominant 88-58 rout of Ehime Orange Vikings on Saturday night at the Shiga Daihatsu Arena.
The Iloilo City-native guard recovered from his subpar offensive game with 11 points, including three three-point conversions, to go with four assists and two steals as the Lakes improved to 32-12 win-loss slate.
James Burrell top-scored for Shiga with 14 points to go with seven rebounds, Ryan Kriener added 13 markers, while Koya Kawamata took advantage of a longer playing time to end up with 11 points.
“I’m happy that we won. We didn’t let our opponent score more than 15 points in the second quarter, so I think we were able to make a solid effort defensively,” said Lakes head coach Danny Gomez.
“We were able to create a game based on our defense and we were able to win, so I’m proud of that and want to carry on to the next match,” he added. “It’s not easy to win with a 30-point difference in the absence of some of our key players.”
Eugene Phelps, who previously played as an import in the PBA, led the way for the Orange Vikings with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Nigel Spikes added 10 markers as they fell to 14-30.
In Division 1 action, Ferdinand “Thirdy” Ravena III and San-en NeoPhoenix suffered a lopsided 107-88 defeat to defending champion Ryukyu Golden Kings at the Toyohashi City Gymnasium.
The younger brother of Kiefer finished with 14 points, including three-outside conversions, to go with five assists and two rebounds as the NeoPhoenix slumped to 34-6 record.
Keita Imamura led the way for the Golden Kings with 20 points, Yoshiyuki Matsuwaki and Vic Law added 18 points each, while Jack Cooley contributed 17 points as they moved up to 28-12.
Yante Maten top-scored for the struggling NeoPhoenix with 21 points, with two outside conversions, while Ryusei Sasaki connected four outside shots to end up with 16 markers./PN
