Thirdy Ravena played 20 minutes in San-En's win against Yokohama. (c) B.LEAGUE
The San-En NeoPhoenix regained their winning ways with a comfortable 82-68 triumph against the Yokohama B-Corsairs, Sunday afternoon at the Toyohashi City Gymnasium.
Thirdy Ravena came off the bench to put up four points, three assists, two rebounds and two steals in 20 minutes as the NeoPhoenix won for the third time in their last four games.
They also rebounded from a 79-68 defeat to the B-Corsairs on Saturday.
Robert Carter led the way for San-En with 20 points and 10 rebounds, while Elias Harris had 16 points and nine boards in the win.
The NeoPhoenix set the tone by pulling away 25-16 in the first quarter, but needed a big response in the fourth period after Yokohama came within four points, 56-62, at the end of the third.
Kazuma Tsuya stepped up for San-En, scoring five straight points to open the fourth quarter to help the hosts regain control of the ball game. A jumper by Morihasa Yamauchi put them up by double-digits, 63-52, and the NeoPhoenix were never really threatened the rest of the way.
Leyton Hammonds led Yokohama with 20 points.
Meanwhile, the Ibaraki Robots broke the hearts of Niigata Albirex BB, 79-76, at the Adastria Mito Arena, also on Sunday afternoon.
Niigata couldn't hold on to a late 74-72 lead, as Ibaraki outscored them 7-2 to end the ball game. Free throws by Eric Jacobsen with 1:18 left put the Robots ahead for good, 75-74, with Rosco Allen and Kimitake Sato misfiring on their three-pointers on Niigata's next trip.
Free throws by Atsonobu Hirao and Asahi Tajima sealed the deal for Ibaraki.
Squandered in the loss was a 16-point effort from Niigata's Filipino import, Kobe Paras, who led his team in scoring. Zen Endo had 13 points and three assists.
On the other end, Ibaraki's Javi Gomez de Liano was scoreless in a minute and 32 seconds of playing time.
It was a repeat victory for Ibaraki, who had trounced Niigata 74-54 on Saturday with Gomez de Liano playing four minutes.
The Robots have now won three straight games.