B. League: Sotto, Hiroshima lose at buzzer; Kiefer's Shiga bags rare win

MANILA, Philippines — Kai Sotto and the Hiroshima Dragonflies fell victim to a tough 90-88 loss against the Nagoya Diamond Dolphins in the 2022-23 Japan B. League season at the Dolphins Arena on Wednesday night.

Coming off back-to-back wins, Nagoya extended their streak to three thanks to a Coty Clarke jumper at the buzzer as the home team nabbed the win even with only eight players in the rotation.

Nagoya Filipino import Ray Parks Jr. missed his fourth straight game for the team due to injury.

Sotto, meanwhile, had a season-low eight points to go along with four rebounds, four assists and four blocks as Hiroshima saw their win streak ended at three games.

Nagoya improved their record to 30-13 while Hiroshima dropped to 31-12.

Elsewhere, Kiefer Ravena and the Shiga Lakes tallied a rare win — only their seventh of the season — after beating the Fighting Eagles Nagoya, 88-80, at the Nagoya Biwajima Sports Center.

Kiefer chipped in 18 markers on an efficient 6-of-10 shooting night as well as six assists and four boards in the victory.

Shiga rode double-doubles from Ivan Buva (30 points and 11 rebounds) and Kelvin Martin (17 points and 10 rebounds) in the victory as they improved to 7-36, a game ahead of the Niigata Albirex BB for the worst record in the league.

Carl Tamayo and the Ryukyu Golden Kings, for their part, nipped Matthew Wright's Kyoto Hannaryz, 86-80, at Kyoto City Gymnasium.

Tamayo started anew for the Golden Kings and finished with seven points and three rebounds in 10 minutes of play.

Jack Cooley paced the 34-9 Golden Kings with 25 points and 14 boards.

Wright poured in 12 markers, four boards and four dimes for Kyoto who are now losers of four straight games.

Kyoto now sports a 16-27 slate.

In the other B1 game, Thirdy Ravena and the San-En NeoPhoenix bowed to the Shinshu Brave Warriors, 79-68, at the White Ring.

Thirdy went cold from the field as he was a dismal 1-of-13 from the field but finished with 11 points, eight assists, and three boards.

Still, it wasn't enough for the victory as NeoPhoenix lost their fourth straight game and fell to a 17-26 record.

Over in B2, both Greg Slaughter and Jordan Heading suffered setbacks with their respective teams.

Slaughter had four points, a rebound and a block as the Rizing Zephyr Fukuoka fell to the Ehime Orange Vikings, 82-60, at the Matsuyama Community Center.

Fukuoka saw their record fall to 16-34.

Heading, meanwhile, tallied 18 points, three rebounds, five assists and two blocks in a narrow loss by the Nagasaki Velca, 87-85, to the Kumamoto Volters.

Nagasaki absorbed their 15th loss of the year and are now at 35-15.

Roosevelt Adams was not activated in the Kagawa Five Arrows' 79-77 win over the Saga Ballooners.