Kai Sotto in action in the B.League. (c) HIROSHIMA DRAGONFLIES/B.LEAGUE
Kai Sotto tallied a double-double as the Hiroshima Dragonflies cruised to a 90-72 rout of the Ibaraki Robots, Saturday at the Adastria Mito Arena.
The Filipino center led Hiroshima with 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting on top of 12 rebounds and three blocks in just 23 minutes.
It was the second straight win for the Dragonflies, who improved to 30-11 in the 2022-23 season of the B.League.
Hiroshima led by just two points, 18-16, after the opening frame but limited Ibaraki to only nine points in the second quarter to take control of the game. They went on to lead by as much as 21 points in the win.
Also victorious on Saturday where Kiefer Ravena and the Shiga Lakes, who claimed a 96-87 triumph over the Toyama Grouses at the Toyama City Gymnasium.
Shiga snapped a four-game slide and improved to 6-35 in the season. Ravena accounted for six points, three assists, two rebounds and two steals.
The Lakes were led by Ivan Buva, who had 25 points on 10-of-17 shooting along with eight rebounds.
Carl Tamayo put up nine points and four rebounds in the Ryukyu Golden Kings' 81-66 demolition of the Shinshu Brave Warriors.
Meanwhile, a nine-point, nine-rebound, nine-assist effort from Matthew Wright wasn't enough as the Kyoto Hannaryz fell to the Chiba Jets in overtime, 93-91.
Wright scored with 42 seconds left to make it a two-point game, and the Hannaryz had a chance to win when Yuki Togashi missed a three-pointer. But Jarrod Uthoff misfired on a triple of his own with five seconds left, allowing the league leaders to escape with the win.
Kyoto fell to 16-25 in the season.
Also falling short were Dwight Ramos and the Levanga Hokkaido, who absorbed a 92-82 loss to the Seahorses Mikawa. Ramos had 11 points, seven rebounds, and five assists in Hokkaido's defeat that dropped them to 11-30.
Thirdy Ravena had a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double in San-En's 82-74 setback against the Sendai 89ers at the Toyohashi City Gymnasium.