Sotto scoreless as Hiroshima falls short vs Shinshu

MANILA, Philippines — Kai Sotto was hardly felt by the Hiroshima Dragonflies as they suffered a tough 83-80 loss against the Shinshu Brave Warriors in the 2022-23 Japan B. League season at the Hiroshima Sun Plaza Hall on Saturday.

Sotto missed all of his three shots in limited minutes. He tallied two rebounds and an assist in the losing effort.

Kerry Blackshear Jr. finished with a double-double of 17 points and 11 rebounds to pace four Dragonflies in twin-digit scoring.

Hiroshima fell to 39-16.

Elsewhere, Matthew Wright could not tow his team to victory as the Kyoto Hannaryz fell to the Shimane Susanoo Magic, 79-71, at the Kyoto City Gymnasium.

Wright had eight points, two rebounds and six assists.

Three Shimane players scored more than 20 points led by skipper Seiya Ando with 22.

Kyoto now sports a 20-35 slate.

In other games, Kiefer Ravena's 11 points, three rebounds and seven assists weren't enough for the Shiga Lakes as they absorbed an 82-76 loss to the Osaka Evessa at the Ookini Arena Maishima.

His brother Thirdy also took a loss as the Kawasaki Brave Thunders drubbed the San-En NeoPhoenix, 90-83, at the Kawasaki Todoroki Arena.

Thirdy had eight points, seven boards and four assists.

Shiga and San-En saw their records skid to 13-42 and 21-33, respectively.

Dwight Ramos was one of few Filipinos who emerged victorious Saturday as he chipped in four points, five rebounds and four assists in Levanga Hokkaido's 70-65 win over the Ibaraki Robots at the Hokkai Kita-yale.

Levanga is now at 17-38.

Carl Tamayo, for his part, went scoreless and ended up with one rebound in Ryukyu Golden Kings' 73-72 win over the Sunrockers Shibuya at Okinawa Arena.

Allen Durham paced Ryukyu with 20 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

The Golden Kings improved to 44-11.

The Nagoya Diamond Dolphins, meanwhile, continue to keep Ray Parks Jr. inactive due to injury. They won over the Fighting Eagles Nagoya, 84-71, at the Nagoya Biwajima Sports Center.

Over in B2, Jordan Heading's 25 points could not tow the Nagasaki Velca past the Ehime Orange Vikings, 95-89, at the Nagasaki Prefectural Gymnasium.

Heading's Velca fell short of a comeback as they stumbled to a 42-17 slate.

Greg Slaughter chipped in seven points, six rebounds, and a steal in the Rizing Zephyr Fukuoka's 70-66 win over the Bambitious Nara at the Teriha Sekisui House Arena.

Fukuoka tallied their 20th win against 40 losses this season.

Roosevelt Adams' 16 points and six rebounds wasn't enough as the Kagawa Five Arrows fell to the Kumamoto Volters, 73-69, at the Takamatsu City Gymnasium.

Kagawa, for its part, is at 15-44.