A sign of things to come for Kai Sotto?
It’s a tale of two winning streaks right now for B.League teams featuring Pinoy imports.
San-en NeoPhoenix stretched their record streak to 15 games, pulling out a tough 95-89 win over the FE Nagoya in B1 action Wednesday.
Thirdy Ravena was solid for the top-ranked NeoPhoenix, going for 18 points and eight rebounds in the win. San-en hiked its record to 33-4 before heading this weekend’s showdown against no. 2 Alvark Tokyo (31-6).
Meanwhile, the Nagoya Diamond Dolphins are the hottest team in the West district, winning their seventh straight after a 78-64 decision over the Hiroshima Dragonflies.
Ray Parks Jr. is rounding into form, finishing with 10 points and seven rebounds. It’s the fourth-straight game in double digits for Parks.
The winning streak has allowed Nagoya to close in on defending champion Ryukyu for first place in the West. One game separate the Golden Kings (25-12) and the Diamond Dolphins (24-13) in the standings.
In other B1 results, Kai Sotto only scored five points but grabbed a season-high 10 rebounds in Yokohama’s 68-60 win over the Sunrockers Shibuya.
Sotto also played 26 minutes and 56 seconds for the B-Corsairs, marking his career-high in minutes in Japan. Including his career in Australia’s NBL, 26:56 is also Kai’s career-high in minutes as a pro.
Not as lucky in Wednesday’s slate are the Kyoto Hannaryz and Levanga Hokkaido.
Matthew Wright returned from a three-game absence and scored 14 points in a 87-85 overtime loss by the Hannaryz to Osaka Evessa.
Dwight Ramos, coming off a season-high 25, cooled off and only managed eight in Hokkaido’s 77-58 loss to the Chiba Jets.