Ramos' Toyama wins vs Kiefer's Shiga; Parks plays sparingly in Nagoya victory

MANILA, Philippines — Dwight Ramos got the better of Gilas Pilipinas senior Kiefer Ravena as his Toyama Grouses sent the latter's Shiga Lakestars reeling to their ninth straight loss, 107-102, in the Japan B. League on Saturday.

The two Filipinos were locked in a back-and-forth battle for most of the game.

The Grouses mounted a run early in the fourth quarter to pull away and lead by twin digits, 92-82 with 6:34 ticks left.

But Shiga came storming back with a 13-3 run to knot the game up, 95-all with four minutes and change left.

Both Filipinos came up clutch for their respective teams with Ravena sinking free throws to get Shiga within two, 104-102.

But it was Ramos who got the last laugh as he got his own split at the line, which gave his team enough space to win, 105-102.

Keijuro Matsui knocked down two more freebies to arrive at the final score.

Ramos finished with 18 points on an efficient 7-of-11 shooting.

He also had five rebounds, two assists and a block in the win.

For his part, Ravena had eight points, nine assists, and two steals off of the bench.

Elsewhere, Bobby Ray Parks played sparingly in Nagoya's 91-58 demolition of the Kyoto Hannaryz.

Buoyed by a 22-0 run in the third salvo, Parks' Diamond Dolphins cruised to the win.

But the Filipino import only had five points, one rebound and three steals in almost 15 minutes of action as a starter.

In the other games, Thirdy Ravena's return for San-En NeoPhoenix was spoiled by a 101-89 loss to the Chiba Jets.

The younger Ravena finished with 15 points, five rebounds and five assists in his first game back from suspension.

Meanwhile, Kobe Paras and the Niigata Albirex BB have yet to break out of their funk as they lost to the Sun Rockers Shibuya, 79-70.

Paras was also limited individually with only three points, three rebounds and an assist in almost 20 minutes of play.

Brothers Juan and Javi Gomez de Liano also absorbed losses on Saturday.

Javi's Ibaraki Robots were trounced by the Shimane Susanoo Magic, 87-59 while Juan's Earthfriends Tokyo Z stumbled against the Kumamoto Volters, 109-78, in Division 2.

Also in Division 2, the Aomori Wat's fell against the Fukushima Firebonds, 78-61.

Kemark Carino was unavailable for the Wat's in the loss.

Matt Aquino, for his part, went scoreless in less than four minutes of action in the Shinshu Brave Warriors' 90-87 loss to the Gunma Crane Thunders.