Javi Gomez de Liaño and Ibaraki were unable to complete the final push for a comeback, receiving a 68-80 defeat against Hokkaido in the 2021-22 B.League season, Saturday afternoon at Hokkai Kita-yale.
With the Robots trailing by double digits most of the game, Gomez de Liaño scored seven of his 11 points in the final four minutes of the game, starting with a booming triple followed by a layup.
The lead was cut to single digits, 63-70, which forced Levanga to call a timeout.
After the timeout, Levanga exhibited their suffocating defense as they only allowed Ibaraki to score five points in the final 3:32 minutes of play that helped them to secure the victory.
With the win, Hokkaido raised its slate to an 18-31 record.
Shawn Long had a monster performance for Hokkaido as he flirted with a 20-20 double-double with 28 points and 19 rebounds. De’mon Brooks and Hayato Yamaguchi both had 16.
Ibaraki failed to make it two in a row as they remained at the second to the last in the East standings with a 14-33 record.
Atsunobu Hirao led the scoring for Ibaraki with 16. Eric Jacobsen finished with 12 markers and 13 boards, while Chehales Tapscott also had 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Javi Gomez de Liaño had himself a game, scoring all of the Robots’ bench points with 11.
(C) B.League
Over at Wing Arena Kariya, Matthew Aquino and Shinshu did not skip a beat in the West district as they demolished Mikawa with an 86-68 win.
This is the Brave Warriors’ third straight win, and their first since April 6.
Shinshu is now only a game behind .500 with 23-24, while Mikawa remained at fourth in the west with a 26-20 record.
Wayne Marshall finished with a game-high 21 points together with five rebounds and two assists. Anthony McHenry had a double-double off-the-bench with 16 points and 10 boards.
Matthew Aquino ended the game with four points and an assist in 15 minutes of action.
Davante Gardner and Yudai Nishida both had 18 markers for the Seahorses.
