Here is the third game of Thirdy Ravena in Japan’s B.League. His squad, the San-En Neophoenix, will face the Osaka Evessa on November 11, 2020, live at 6:05 PM (PHI time) from the Toyohashi City General Gymnasium in Toyohashi, Japan.
At a disadvantage, playing in the opponent’s homecourt, Ravena’s San-En Neophoenix bow down to the Shimane Susanoo Magic, 81-74, failing to give the Filipino import back-to-back wins in his debut in the B. League.
San-en went into foul trouble early in the game. Jelovac picked up 3 fouls, and American-Jamaican big man Kyle Hunt had two. The obstacles didn’t end just yet for the Neophoenix as Hayato Kawashima, momentarily, was sidelined after absorbing a blow to the eye from Brooks.
In the third quarter, American import De’mon Brooks drained a trey that gave the now 6-6 Magic a 17-point lead, 53-36.
Shimane’s lead, however, was so insurmountable for the Neophoenix. Despite doing a last-ditch attempt in the last 2:23 minutes of play, trimming down their opponent’s lead with its 8-2 run, San-En still failed to secure their third win in 12 games.
Furthermore, Ravena’s unsportsmanlike foul brought Yasuhiro Yamashita to the line. Yamashita only sank 1/2 freebies and handed the possession to Shimane.
Neophoenix’s Serbian import Jelovac drew a crucial foul off Magic’s Reid Travis to cut the deficit to just four, 78-74. Unfortunately for San-En, Shimane, at the crucial juncture of the match, added three points to secure the victory.
Leading Shimane was the ever-reliable Brooks with 19 points off 5-of-8 shooting, while Travis supplied 17 points. Perrin Buford, on the other hand, put up 15 for the Magic.
Meanwhile, in a losing effort, Ravena stepped up for San-en in the 2nd quarter as he led the scoring to help his team that was struggling from beyond the three-point arc with 1-of-10 shooting by the half.
Neophoenix leaned on Jelovac’s double-double of 23 points and 10 boards, with Ravena and Kawashima contributing 12 points apiece.
Now with homecourt advantage, will Ravena — who averaged 12.5 points on 43-percent shooting clip, to go with 5.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists through his first two games in a new territory — and the rest of San-en Neophoenix bounce back from their fall down and gain their third win against the Osaka Evessa?
Evessa is bannered by former San Miguel import and a fixture in the Japanese professional league since 2011 Ira Brown and three-year NBA veteran Josh Harrellson, who played for New York, Miami, and Detroit.