THE slide continued for San-En NeoPhoenix as it fell to Yokohama B-Corsairs, 79-68, on Saturday in the 2020-21 B.League at Hamamatsu Arena.
Still playing without Filipino reinforcement Thirdy Ravena, the home team fell behind early and never quite recovered to fall to its sixth successive loss.
Stevan Jelovac led San-En with a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Kyle Hunt had 15 points, 12 boards, two assists, and two blocks in the second game fellow import Ravena missed as he recovers from COVID-19.
Locals also chipped in, with Hayato Kawashima firing 13 points, two rebounds, two assists, and two steals and Tatsuya Suzuki adding 12 points, eight assists, and three boards.
But the NeoPhoenix's late flurry coudn't save them from falling deeper into the bottom of the standings at 2-15.
The lead swelled to as high as 19, 52-33, with 4:11 left in the third, but San-En continued to chip away Yokohama's lead to bring it down to 10, 72-62, with a Jelovac trey with 3:22 left.
But Patrik Auda scored six straight points to fend of the rally and ice the game for the B-Corsairs.
Auda carried the torch with 14 points and 12 rebounds as Yokohama improved to a 4-14 win-loss record.
Robert Carter paced the B-Corsairs with 19 points, five boards, five assists, three steals, and two blocks, while Kenta Morii got 15 points and nine assists.
The two teams square off anew on Sunday to end this two-game home stand for the NeoPhoenix.
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