Kiefer Ravena could not be the hero for Shiga as his side was dealt an 83-84 heartbreaker by Gunma in the 2021-22 B.League season, Wednesday at the Ota City Sports Park Civic Gymnasium.
With 3.5 seconds remaining and the Crane Thunders up by one, Ravena received the ball from the inbound. He was able to drive from the left corner, freeing himself up just below the foul stripe.
Ravena went his patented jumper but the ball only hit front rim as time expired.
Tough was this loss as it was the Lakestars’ 14th straight loss, losing all of its games this month.
The Lakestars put up a valiant stand in the contest as it trailed by as many as 14 points in the contest before leading 83-80 with 41 seconds left.
Trey Jones though was able to score on an up-and-under with 31.8 seconds remaining to cut Shiga’s lead down to one. A miss by Ravena, later on, led to two free throws for Jones with 3.5 ticks on the clock that gave Gunma the lead.
Gunma went up to 17-21 while dropping Shiga to a 10-31 record.
Naturalized Japanese player Michael Parker led the way for Gunma with 20 points and nine rebounds while Jones ended up with 17 points, five rebounds, and five assists.
Justin Keenan tallied 19 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists while Ondrej Balvin chipped in 12 points and 11 rebounds from off-the-bench.
For his part, Ravena produced 17 points, seven assists, four rebounds, and three steals for Shiga. Sean O’Mara also got 27 points and 10 rebounds.
Shiga looks to start the penultimate month of the league on the right note when it faces league-leading Ryukyu this weekend at Okinawa Arena.
