Third fight as San-En loses a big lead in the defeat against Shibuya

Avan Nisan 03, 2022

FILE – San-En NeoPhoenix during a road match in B.League. Photo of San-En

MANILA, Philippines – San-En squandered an 18-point lead along the way to a disappointing 70-64 defeat to Shibuya in his Japan B.League 2021-22 season inter-conference match on Saturday at Memorial Hall in Tokyo .

NeoPhoenix had absolute control of the Sun Rockers throughout the first half and held 41-23 in under a minute in the third quarter.

That, however, was the final moment of NeoPhoenix’s brilliance as Shibuya slowly took control of the game, going on a 26-10 run to take a 50-49 lead 13 seconds into the quarter after the triple. by Morizane Kaito.

With his team leading 65-64, James Michael McAdoo went to work in crunch time, hitting a hook shot to give the Sun Rockers a 68-64 buffer with 26 seconds to play.

Matsuwaki Yoshiyuki then made a big mistake on a step-back 3-pointer in the next San-En game, allowing Leo Vendrame to freeze the game from the line with 18 seconds left.

McAdoo led the Sun Rockers with a game-high of 31 points, 13 rebounds and five steals while Josh Harrellson 13 points and 11 rebounds as they improved to a 7-3 record in the East Conference.

Justin Knox and Robert Carter had 18 and 14 points respectively to lead the 3-7 NeoPhoenix while Thirdy Ravena battled with four points, 2 out of 8 shooting, three rebounds and four turnovers.