Thirdy Ravena and the San-En Neophoenix hacked out a close 85-82 victory over Kobe Paras and the Niigata Albirex BB to split their two-game home stand in B.League at the Toyohashi City General Gymnasium in Aichi, Japan on Sunday, October 10.
San-en made the clutch baskets down the stretch to stave off a last-ditch rally from Niigata, who climbed back from an 11-point hole early in the final frame.
Thirdy and the Neophoenix survived a furious 17-6 fourth quarter run from Niigata to tie the game at 67-all with four minutes left in the game.
San-En import Robert Carter, who led the Neophoenix with 22 points and four assists, scored an and-one play to restore order for the home team.
Yoshiyuki Matsumaki then drilled a clutch trey off a Paras turnover to put the much-needed separation for San-En, 77-71.
Niigata continued to battle cutting the lead down to two, 82-80, following a Rosco Allen triple with 12 seconds left.
But San-En was steady from the foul line in the final seconds as Allen missed a potential game-tying trey at the buzzer.
Ravena exacted his revenge on Paras with 13 points and nine rebounds and helped San-En put the clamps down on Niigata’s Asian import, who was limited to just 11 markers on a four-of-13 shooting clip from the field after exploding for 21 points in Niigata’s 77-64 victory against San En in their first game.
Allen paced Niigata with a double-double performance of 24 points built on four treys to go with his 13 rebounds.
Unlike in their first encounter, San-En had a better start in this game, embarking on an early 21-13 lead midway through the first frame.
The Neophoenix kept their hold of the driver seat in the next two quarters, taking a 40-35 lead at the half and a 59-50 advantage to start the final frame.