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San-En NeoPhoenix avoided a total collapse at home by escaping visiting Niigata Albirex BB 85-81 for a third straight win in the 2020-21 B.League season on Saturday at the Toyohashi City Gymnasium in Japan.
The NeoPhoenix led by up to 15 early in the first half and held a double digit lead for most of the game, but had to fend off a furious rally from Niigata in the fourth quarter before improving to 5-17 in the West. . District.
Thirdy Ravena played his best game since recovering from COVID-19 and scored 11 points on 4 of 10 shots to go with two rebounds and one assist in nearly 17 minutes from the bench.
But the night belonged to Kyle Hunt, who had 17 points, 13 rebounds, a steal and a block, including a great basket that put San-En ahead definitively with 26 seconds left.
Stevan Jelovac had 13 and 11 rebounds, while Takanobu Nishikawa had 12 points, three rebounds and three assists in the victory.
San-En dominated the first three quarters and entered the fourth with a 66-55 lead, but Niigata erased that lead with a 14-2 start in the first three minutes. That streak was capped by a 3-pointer by Yuichi Ikeda, who finally put the visitors ahead 69-68 with less than seven minutes left on his bucket.
Both teams battled for the lead for the remainder of the game until San-En took the lead thanks to Hunt, who cleared a Jelovac fault to give his team an 83-81 band with 26 seconds left.
Niigata had a couple of chances to steal the lead, but failed to convert both times. Import Jason Washburn first missed two lengths from the left wing, then guard Kei Igarashi was called for an offensive foul on a three-point attempt after landing his right leg on the shot with four seconds remaining.
Jelovac then sealed the deal with a pair of free throws for San-En.
This is the longest streak of the season for NeoPhoenix, who shot a healthy 48.6 percent from the field in victory.
Washburn led Niigata with 21 points on 10 of 16 shooting, nine rebounds and four assists, while Meralco Bolts resident Allen Durham contributed 14 points, nine rebounds. Igarashi also scored 12 for Albirex BB, who fell to 6-16 after a sixth straight loss.
San-En can take his record to a fourth win in a row with another win against Niigata on Sunday at 1:05 pm (Manila time) to close out a two-game home stay.
THE SCORES
San-En NeoPhoenix 85 – Hunt 17, Jelovac 13, Nishikawa 12, Ravena 11, Shuto 9, Milenovic 9, Kawashima 8, Ota 4, Suzuki 2.
Niigata Albirex BB 81 – Washburn 21, Durham 14, Igarashi 12, Kawashigura 9, Allen 9, Ikeda 9, Nomi 7, Oya 0, Sato 0, Hayashi 0.
Trimesters: 30-17, 45-34, 66-55, 85-81.
