MANILA, Philippines — A scoring outburst from Kobe Paras in the fourth salvo was not enough for the Niigata Alibrex BB to get back into the win column as they fell to the Akita Northern Happinets, 67-71, at the Noshiro City Gymnasium on Sunday.
Paras scored 11 points in just the final salvo to spark a Niigata comeback as they clawed back from 14 points down to just trail by two points, 63-65, with 3:25 ticks left in the game.
But Colton Iverson took over for Akita and scored the team's final seven points to fend off the uspet seeking Niigata.
Albirex fell to 5-31 for the season.
Paras finished with 17 points, three rebounds, and two steals in the losing effort.
Elsewhere, Kiefer Ravena and the Shiga Lakestars also fell short of a win against the Ryukyu Golden Kings, 73-82.
Against the favored Kings, Ravena was a spark off of the bench with 14 points, three rebounds, and three assists.
Meanwhile, Javi Gomez de Liano went scoreless in a little over four minutes of play during the Ibarki Robots' 96-70 win over the Kyoto Hannaryz.
For their part, Dwight Ramos and Thirdy Ravena remain in quarantine after their short stint with Gilas Pilipinas here in Manila.
Ramos' Toyama took a win against SR Shibuya, 89-76, while Thirdy's San-En fell victim to a blowout by Alvark Tokyo, 59-90.
In B2, Kemark Carino scored two points and grabbed two rebounds in the Aomori Wat's 70-92 loss to the Ehime Orange Vikings.