MANILA – Thirdy Ravena was nearly shut down on Saturday as Alvark Tokyo clamped San-En, 94-76, in their B.League battle at the Tachikawa Tachihi Arena in the Japanese capital.
In the inter-conference battle, the reigning B.League champion held Ravena without a field goal almost all game long before conceding a layup in the closing seconds of the match with the outcome already settled.
Daiki Tanaka led Tokyo, which moved to a tie with Akita for fifth place in the Eastern Conference at 8-5, with 21 points, one rebound, and three assists.
Deshaun Thomas added 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting, five rebounds, and one assist for Tokyo, which sizzled for 27 points in the first quarter before holding San-En to just 14 points in the second quarter to set up the rout.
Birthday boy Alex Kirk came close to a double with 10 points and nine rebounds alongside one block and one steal.
Kyle Hunt fired 28 points on 13-of-18 field goals, 11 rebounds, two assists, and one steal for San-En, which crashed to a tie with Kyoto at the bottom of the Western Conference standings at 2-11.
Stevan Jelovac added 20 markers, seven boards, and one steal.
Ravena missed his first eight field goals before his garbage time lay-in and only ended up with four points alongside three rebounds, three assists, and one steal.
Both teams will face off again on Sunday.
Box Scores:
Tokyo 94-Tanaka 21, Thomas 17, Jones 14, Ando 12, Suda 11, Kirk 10, Tsuyama 5, Kikuchi 4, Takeuchi 0
San-En 76-Hunt 28, Jelovac 20, Kawashima 9, Shuto 8, Ravena 4, Okada 3, Suzuki 2, Ota 2, Kitahara 0
Quarterscores: 27-18, 45-32, 69-55, 94-76 (PNA)
