B. League: Tamayo rides bench, Sotto starts as Ryukyu overcomes Hiroshima

MANILA, Philippines — Carl Tamayo did not see action in what would have been his Japan B. League debut as the Ryukyu Golden Kings nipped Kai Sotto and the Hiroshima Dragonflies, 86-78, at Okinawa Arena on Wednesday.

Tamayo, who already saw action for Ryukyu in the recently concluded East Asia Super League Champions Week, stayed on the bench as compatriot and former high school rival Kai Sotto got the starting nod for head coach Kyle Milling.

Sotto played almost 19 minutes to finish with 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting to go along with two rebounds, one steal and three blocks in his first game for the Dragonflies.

But it was Tamayo's Golden Kings who came out with the victory, led by Ryuichi Kishimoto's 20 points. Former PBA import Allen Durham added 19 points, four rebounds, five assists and a steal for the home team.

Ryukyu improved their record to 30-9 while the Dragonflies fell to 28-11.

Other results in the B. League saw Matthew Wright's Kyoto Hannaryz squeak past Ray Parks Jr. and the Nagoya Diamond Dolphins, 74-71.

Wright had an all-around game of 15 points, five boards, and nine assists to help Kyoto improve to 16-23.

Parks couldn't find his scoring touch as he ended up with six points, five rebounds and two assists.

Nagoya now sports a 27-12 slate.

Elsewhere, the Levanga Hokkaido are now winners of back-to-back games after they beat the Ibaraki Robots, 88-83, to improve to 10-29.

Dwight Ramos finished with four points, and one block in 14 minutes of action off the bench for Hokkaido.

Thirdy Ravena, meanwhile, scored 10 points in San-En NeoPhoenix's 87-74 drubbing of the Seahorses Mikawa.

Thirdy also had three rebounds and one assist as San-En chases a spot in the B. League playoffs. The NeoPhoenix improved to 17-22 and snapped a three-game losing slump.

In the last game of the day, Kiefer Ravena scored eight points, tallied three rebounds, and two assists as the Shiga Lakes fell to the Shimane Susanoo, 98-89.

The Lakes fall to a 5-34 slate in what has been a sorry B. League season.