In a war between two of Asia’s finest guards, Kiefer Ravena won the battle against Yuki Togashi. But it was Chiba who took round one against Shiga.
A Ravena-led rally by the Lakestars was not enough for them to overcome defending B.League champions Jets, bowing 99-88, Saturday at Funabashi Arena.
Down 79-65 entering the final frame, Ravena scored nine points early in the final frame to rally the Lakestars.
Seeing the Asian Quota import take charge, Ovie Soku, Sean O’Mara, and Daichi Nomoto got into the act as well. The three cut the lead down to 91-86 with 2:32 left.
John Mooney and Takuma Sato nailed momentum-shifting buckets, though, with the latter draining a huge triple with 1:27 remaining to restore order.
It did not help that Ravena and Soku missed on crucial lay-ins late.
Chiba went up to 7-3 in the east, while Shiga suffered its second straight loss to fall to 6-4 in the west.
Ravena had 14 points on 6-of-15 shooting with nine assists and two steals. He also helped limit Togashi to just 10 points on 4-of-12 shooting, with four turnovers against eight assists.
Christopher Smith, though, was unstoppable for Chiba. He dropped 26 points on 9-of-14 shooting with six rebounds and three assists.
Mooney also had a monster line of 15 points, 17 rebounds, six assists, three blocks, and two steals. Meanwhile, Takuma Sato added 15 points as well – all from downtown.
Naturalized Japanese player Gavin Edwards also got 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Soko paced Shiga with 28 points on 50-percent shooting from the field with eight rebounds, while O’Mara got 17 points and 12 rebounds.
Ravena and Shiga will have a chance to even the score with Togashi and Chiba tomorrow at 2:05 PM.
