Kobe Paras and Niigata Albirex fell to flat start and absorbed an 88-75 away defeat to Levanga Hokkaido in their B.League match Saturday, Oct. 16 at the Hokkai Kitayell in Sapporo.
Niigata never recovered after Hokkaido took a 31-10 lead at the end of the first quarter that resulted in a second straight loss.
Paras scored 13 points but shot 4-of-13 from the field for Niigata, which dropped to 2-3.
He also had two rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block in 27 minutes.
The ex-University of the Philippines mainstay was actually Niigata’s top scorer with Rosco Allen, one of the B.League’s leaders in points, scoring 12 on 4-of-11 shooting.
One-time Japan national team member Ryoma Hashimoto was one of six players in double figures for Hokkaido with a game-high 20 points.
It was Hokkaido’s first victory after starting the 2021-22 season with four straight defeats.
Paras and Niigata will try to seek payback against Levanga on Sunday at 2:05 p.m. local time (1:05 p.m. Philippine time).