B.League: Kiefer, Shiga win by default over Nagoya

Kiefer Ravena and the Shiga Lakes won via default against a Nagoya squad that saw four players go down with the flu.

The Lakes were supposed to host the Diamond Dolphins on Wednesday at the Shiga Daihatsu Arena, but the game was called off instead.

Per a statement on Shiga's website, four of Nagoya's playeres "tested positive for influenza," while two others were already injured. The Diamond Dolphins thus had less than seven available players, the minimum required for a game to proceed.

Shiga was given a 20-0 win that hiked their record to 12-38 in the 2022-23 season of the B.League.

Nagoya, meanwhile, fell to 26-14. The Diamond Dolphins had just eight players in their roster when they defeated Osaka Evessa last Sunday, with Filipino import Ray Parks Jr. still out of action due to injury.

Matthew Wright and the Kyoto Hannaryz escaped with an 80-77 triumph over the Fighting Eagles Nagoya, also on Wednesday at the Kyoto City Gymnasium.

Wright had 17 points, 10 assists, and five rebounds, but the hero of the game was Jarrod Uthoff who drilled the go-ahead three-pointer with 2.4 seconds left to play.

A split at the line by Wright gave Kyoto a 77-74 lead, and Reiya Nozaki knocked down a triple in the Fighting Eagles' next possession to force the last tie of the game.

But Uthoff was there to save the day for Kyoto, which now has an 18-33 slate. Uthoff also scored 17 points while Cheick Diallo had 19 points and 15 rebounds.

Kai Sotto had five points, nine rebounds, two blocks, an assist and a steal in the Hiroshima Dragonflies' 99-69 demolition of Osaka Evessa at the Hiroshima Sun Plaza Hall.

Nick Mayo did the heavy lifting for Hiroshima with 20 points, as they improved to 38-13.

Meanwhile, Thirdy Ravena and the San-En NeoPhoenix lost to Niigata Albirex BB, 90-73, at the City Hall Plaza Ao-re Nagaoka.

The younger Ravena had 11 points and seven assists in the loss that dropped San-En to 19-32.

Dwight Ramos was limited to two points on 1-of-4 shooting in Levanga Hokkaido's 77-69 defeat to Alvark Tokyo at the Hokkai Kita-yale. The Gilas Pilipinas mainstay also had three assists, two rebounds, and a steal.

Shawn Long's 30-point, 17-rebound effort wasn't enough as Levanga fell to 16-35.

Carl Tamayo did not play in the Ryukyu Golden Kings' 87-72 rout of the Shimane Susanoo Magic. The Golden Kings are now 40-11 in the season.