Ilonggo Thirdy Ravena, San-En bow to Alvark in Japan B.League
MANILA–Ilonggo Ferdinand “Thirdy” Ravena and San-en NeoPhoenix tasted defeat in Japan B. League Division 1 on Sunday evening. It lost to Alvark Tokyo, 9472, at the Toyohashi City Gymnasium.
The former Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles winger contributed 16 points, including two three- point conversions, to go with four assists, three rebounds, and a steal as the NeoPhoenix saw their 16- game winning run snapped to drop to 33-5.
“We knew it would be a tough game, and being able to play against a team like A-Tokyo, who have a lot of experience in back- to- back games, was a really good experience as we learned a lot,” Ravena said.
The NeoPhoenix started the game flat as they trailed 20- 23 after the f i rst 10 minutes and 34- 40 at the half before Alvark went on a rampage in the second half to build a lead as high as 23 points.
“I think it’s going to get tougher in the future, so as I said last Saturday, ‘if you don’t have both physical toughness and mental toughness, you won’t be able to win,’” said NeoPhoenix head coach Atsushi Ohno.
“I think it was a good t raining session f or us because, because we were so impatient with not being able to get rebounds, we tried to set our own pace, which led to an increase in cheap passes and turnovers,” he added.
Meanwhile, Yokohama B-Corsairs relied on a standout performance by Kai Sotto as they scored a 90-85 overtime victory against Chiba Jets at the Funabashi Arena.
The 7- f oot- 3 c enter contributed a double-double of 26 points and 11 rebounds as the B- Corsairs bounced back from their Saturday loss to the Jets to improve to a 1722 win-loss slate.
“I have been preparing to win in any situation, and I think I was able to do what I could and bring out my strengths in today’s match. I’m happy that I was able to express what I can do, and most of all, I’m happy that the team won,” Sotto said.
“It was a 100 percent team effort from start to finish. On Saturday, we played for 35 minutes, but today we played for 45 minutes, and the big reason for our victory was that we fought as a team from start to finish, helping each other out,” he added./