Hiroshima Fireflies center Kai Sotto in B.League. –B.LEAGUE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Kai Sotto delivered a double-double to lead the Hiroshima Dragonflies to a 90-72 rout of the Ibaraki Robots in the 2022-23 B.League season on Saturday at Adastria Mito Arena.
The 7-foot-3 center continued to make waves in Japan as he put up 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting and tallied 12 rebounds and three blocks in just 23 minutes.
Sotto led the Dragonflies to their second straight win to improve to a 30-11 record.
Dwayne Evans II was also instrumental with 16 points for Hiroshima, as Kerry Blackshear Jr. and Ryo Terashima added 12 and 11, respectively.
Ibaraki dropped to a 15-26 card with Eric Jacobsen leading the way with 19 points.
Meanwhile, Kiefer Ravena helped the Shiga Lakes in arresting a four-game skid after they took down the Toyama Grouses, 96-87, at Toyama City Gymnasium.
Ravena tallied six points, three assists, two rebounds, and two steals, while Ivan Buya showed the way with 25 points and eight rebounds to lift the Lakes to an improved 6-35 card.
QUALITY MINUTES FOR CARL TAMAYO
Ryukyu Golden Kings’ Carl Tamayo. –RYUKYU PHOTO/BLEAGUE
Carl Tamayo made the most of his limited minutes with nine points and four rebounds in the Ryukyu Golden Kings’ 81-66 rout of the Shinshu Brave Warriors.
Tamayo and the Golden Kings rose to a 32-9 slate.
Matthew Wright and the Kyoto Hannaryz absorbed a 93-91 loss to the Chiba Jets in overtime.
Wright finished with nine points, nine rebounds, and nine assists. Kyoto dropped to 16-25 as Jarrod Uthoff missed the potential game-winning triple.
Dwight Ramos delivered 11 points, seven rebounds, and five assists but the Levanga Hokkaido failed to assert their mastery of the Seahorses Mikawa, 92-82, and slid to an 11-30 record.
Thirdy Ravena’s 13-point and 10-rebound rebound went for naught as San-En (17-24) yielded to the Sendai 89ers, 82-74, at Toyohashi City Gymnasium.