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| Kai Sotto hurt his ankle in a win against Gilas teammate AJ Edu and Nagasaki. B.League (file photo) |
MANILA--Kai Sotto had a block party on Wednesday night to lead Koshigaya to an 80-67 win against Nagasaki in their B.League clash at the Koshigaya City Central Gymnasium.
However, an ankle injury late in the third quarter kept Sotto from tallying a new career-high in blocks, raising concerns for Gilas Pilipinas fans ahead of the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers November window at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
Sotto already matched his career-high with four blocks by the third period, but he tweaked his left ankle after fellow Alpha Ryoma Hashimoto made a triple with 58.7 seconds left.
Sotto has never returned to the game since then, which raises the question of whether he will be available for Koshigaya in his scheduled homecoming to Yokohama this weekend when they will play a two-game set against his former team, the B-Corsairs.
Sotto and Tim Soares each scored 13 points for the Alphas, who held the Velca to only nine points in the third quarter to pull away for good.
Koshigaya is now tied with Ibaraki which lost at home also on Wednesday night, 84-89, against Utsonomiya, at 2-10, although both teams are at the bottom of the East District.
Mark Smith fired 32 points with seven rebounds, four assists, and one steal for the Velca, now in a four-way tie for third place in the West District with Osaka Evessa, Kyoto Hannaryz, and Saga Ballooners at 6-6.
Edu finished with six points, eight rebounds, one block, and one steal for Nagasaki.
Gilas Pilipinas team manager Richard Del Rosario said last week that Sotto and Edu, who both suffered injuries before and during the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments that hurt the national team's chances of making it to the Paris Olympics, are now healthy enough to make it to the November window of the FIBA ACQ in time for a huge showdown against New Zealand on Nov. 21.
"He's going to be a great addition especially facing big teams like New Zealand," Del Rosario said on Edu's return to Gilas after a long while.
The concurrent Ginebra assistant coach added, "Their abilities are limitless for those two guys because they're very young, and we're really excited to have them back."
Del Rosario further said that Gilas expects Sotto and Edu to arrive by Monday or Tuesday after the B.League games this weekend, but whether Sotto's ankle will be healed in time for the November window is now a question especially if he will be ruled out in his supposed return to Yokohama.
Meanwhile, despite another solid game from Ray-Ray Parks, Osaka fell to a heartbreaking 91-93 loss to Hiroshima at the Hiroshima Sun Plaza.
Matt Bonds led the Evessa with 24 points on 9-for-12 shooting, eight rebounds, and eight assists, but he blew a chance to send the game to overtime when he missed the first of three free throws off a foul by Takuto Nakamura.
After making his second free throw, Bonds intentionally missed his third free throw, but Nick Mayo secured the rebound that iced the game for the Dragonflies.
Parks added 15 points on 6-of-11 field goals including three triples, five rebounds, four assists, and one steal for Osaka.
Nakamura made 23 points on 10-for-19 field goals, six rebounds, four assists, and four steals to lead the Dragonflies, who moved up to 3-9.
Mayo added 12 points, four rebounds, 10 assists, and three steals.
Yokohama suffers home loss ahead of Kai Sotto's return
The B-Corsairs also suffered a tough loss at home three days before they welcome Sotto back with Alvark Tokyo escaping with an 80-77 win at the Yokohama International Swimming Pool.
Koya Sudo missed a chance to put Yokohama ahead after missing a mid-range shot, and Taiki Osakabe made two free throws to up Alvark Tokyo's lead to three, 76-73, with 13 seconds left.
Kiefer Ravena also had a botched clutch moment as he split his two free throws with nine seconds remaining and the lead was only down to two, 76-74.
Yokohoma still had a chance to force overtime when Leonardo Meindl missed his two free throws off a Sudo foul, but Sebastian Saiz grabbed the offensive rebound and made his two charities to make it 78-74 for Alvark Tokyo.
Ravena hit a booming three to keep the B-Corsairs in the game, but Kai Toews hit two more free throws and Meindel picked the inbound pass to ice the game for Alvark.
Saiz led Alvark Tokyo, which tied the San-En NeoPhoenix for first place in the Central District at 10-2, with 27 points, six rebounds, two assists, one block, and one steal.
Meindl added 13 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, and three steals.
Damien Inglis put up 17 points, nine rebounds, two assists, one block, and two steals, while Ravena added 13 points, one rebound, two assists, and one steal for Yokohama, which fell to sixth place in the Central District at 5-7.
The other results saw San-En romp Kawasaki, 112-89, in a game where Matthew Wright was held scoreless and Hokkaido trip Sendai, 97-88, behind a solid all-around game from Dwight Ramos.
Elsewhere, the Ballooners beat the Shiga Lakes, 83-69, Ryukyu Golden Kings edged the Hannaryz, 84-78, Seahorses Mikawa pipped the Akita Happinets, 83-71, Chiba Jets beat the Gunma Crane Thunders, 87-78, Sunrockers Shibuya nipped the Fighting Eagles Nagoya, 80-66, and the Shimane Susanoo Magic stunned the Nagoya Diamond Dolphins, 73-69.
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