THIRDY Ravena was sorely missed as San-En NeoPhoenix suffered a 25-point beating at the hands of SeaHorses Mikawa, 98-73, in the 2021-22 B.League season on Sunday at Toyohashi City Gymnasium.
With the Filipino guard serving the second of his two-game suspension, San-En once again played with just eight players and it was no surprise that Mikawa capitalized on the opportunity to send the home team to its eighth straight loss.
Jarrod Uthoff tallied 14 points, nine rebounds, five assists, and two steals as he set the tone for the SeaHorses with an 18-9 start.
Masashi Hosoya came off the bench and buried five of his 10 treys to lead Mikawa with 17 points, while Yudai Nishida added 13 points.
Davante Gardner also was an off-the-bench wonder with his 12 points, nine rebounds, and six dimes, as Avi Koki Schafer notched 12 points and eight rebounds to help the SeaHorses nab back-to-back wins and rise to 11-5.
Mikawa was hardly threatened in the game as it shot 15-of-36, a potent 41-percent from deep, to extend the lead to its highest at 30, 94-64, with 5:32 left to play.
Justin Knox led the NeoPhoenix with 19 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, and two steals as they dropped to 3-13 overall.
Shota Tsuyama also got 18 points, while Yoshiyuki Matsuwaki got 16 points, seven boards, and two dimes in the loss.
Good news for San-En is that Ravena will be back in the fold next weekend, all the more as it hosts the defending champion Chiba Jets at the same venue.
The same fate befell the Shinshu Brave Warriors, who lost to the Utsunomiya Brex, 83-61, at White Ring Arena.
Chase Fieler paced Utsunomiya with 27 points on a perfect 5-of-5 clip from downtown, to go with five rebounds off the bench as his side seized control of the game in the third quarter, using a 29-6 assault to erect the 66-41 edge.
That lead swelled further to 27, 68-41, after an Isaac Fotu basket as the Brex stretched its win streak to five and improve to an 11-5 card.
Josh Scott also did his share with 19 points on a clean 11-of-11 free throw shooting, while also collecting 10 boards and five dimes, while Makoto Hiejima had 12 points, four rebounds, and four assists.
Matthew Aquino held scoreless
Yuta Okada captained Shinshu with 22 points on 4-of-7 clip from distance, but that wasn't enough to stop his team from taking its second straight loss.
Matthew Aquino played the last 2:57 of the game but went scoreless.
The Brave Warriors hope to snap this losing streak when they visit the Gunma Crane Thunders at Ota City Athletic Park Citizen's Gymnasium next weekend.
In second division action, Earthfriends Tokyo Z gained a measure of revenge against the Aomori Wat's, taking the 83-64 win at Flat Hachinohe.
This time, it was Joshua Crawford who got hot early, firing 21 points, 12 rebounds, three steals, two assists, and two blocks to snap the visitor's two-game losing skid.
Kotaro Hisaoka chimed in 16 points and five assists, as Takumi Masuko got 16 points, four dimes, and three rebounds for the Earthfriends, which rose to a 3-16 record.
Tokyo Z came alive late in the second period, scoring 15 unanswered points to turn the game from a close 32-29 affair to a 47-29 lead.
Although the Wat's rallied back and cut the deficit down to four, 64-60, with 8:02 left, the Earthfriends responded with another 19-2 barrage to close the game out and stretch the lead to 21 points late.
Renaldo Dixon led Aomori (2-17) with 16 points, eight rebounds, and two steals in the loss.
JGDL and Carino benched
Unfortunately, Filipino talents Juan Gomez de Liano of Tokyo Z and Kemark Carino of Aomori were both benched in this affair.
The Earthfriends return home this weekend to host the Kumamoto Volters at Ota City Gymnasium, while the Wat's go on the road to meet the Fukushima Firebonds at Horaiya Koriyama Gymnasium both next weekend.
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