MANILA, Philippines – Gilas Pilipinas star Dwight Ramos showed no signs of rust in his return to play as he helped the Levanga Hokkaido complete a weekend sweep of Kiefer Ravena and the Yokohama B-Corsairs in the Japan B. League.
After missing seven straight games due to an unspecified injury, Ramos made his return to Hokkaido’s lineup on Saturday, November 2, in their 75-66 win over Yokohama.
In that game, Ramos provided instant impact for Hokkaido as he finished with 9 points on an efficient 4-of-6 shooting and 2 assists in only 14 minutes and 54 seconds of action.
Ramos then followed it up with a game-high 19-point performance on Sunday, November 3, as Hokkaido repeated over Yokohama with a 77-69 win.
He shot 5-of-9 from beyond the arc to reach his season-high 19 points, to go with 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 steal in over 25 minutes.
On the other side, Ravena – who recently got engaged to beauty queen Diana Mackey – came up with 4 points and 2 assists in Yokohama’s Saturday loss, before racking up 11 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 steal in their Sunday defeat.
Hokkaido improved to a 4-7 record, while Yokohama fell to 5-6.
Meanwhile, Ray Parks saw his huge scoring performances wasted as the Osaka Evessa (6-5) suffered back-to-back losses to the Ryukyu Golden Kings over the weekend.
Parks had 16 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists in Osaka’s 96-79 loss on Saturday.
He then scored a team-best 18 points on 6-of-13 shooting, to go with 3 rebounds and 2 assists in another double-digit setback to Ryukyu on Sunday, 95-84.
Unlike his fellow Filipino Asian Quota imports, Kai Sotto had a rough weekend for the Koshigaya Alphas (1-10).
Sotto was held to a season-low 1 point with 6 rebounds and 2 assists as Koshigaya absorbed an 84-71 beating at the hands of the Sunrockers Shibuya on Saturday.
The 7-foot-3 Gilas Pilipinas big man then posted 6 points on 3-of-8 shooting and 7 rebounds the next day, but Koshigaya remained no match for Shibuya, 82-59.
Elsewhere, AJ Edu and the Nagasaki Velca (6-5) split their weekend series against the Nagoya Diamond Dolphins.
Edu produced 6 points, 7 rebounds, 1 steal, and 3 blocks to help Nagasaki take down Nagoya, 87-68, on Saturday.
The Gilas Pilipinas center followed it up with a near double-double of 8 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 3 blocks on Sunday, but Nagasaki bowed to Nagoya this time, 83-74.
Finally, the Saga Ballooners cruised past Matthew Wright and the Kawasaki Brave Thunders (2-8) with an 89-67 drubbing on Sunday.
Wright recorded an all-around line of 15 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists, and 4 steals in the losing effort.
Over in B2, the losses continued to pile up for Geo Chiu and the Ehime Orange Vikings (1-10) as they got swept by the Altiri Chiba over the weekend.
Chiu tallied 3 points, 5 rebounds, 1 steal, and 1 block in their 98-78 loss on Saturday, before putting up 6 points on 3-of-5 field goal clip, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, and 2 blocks in a 94-85 defeat on Sunday. – Rappler.com
