By NIKOLE JAVIER
Thirdy Ravena has parted ways with San-En NeoPhoenix in the Japan B. League after four years of partnership, he announced on social media on Friday, May 24.
The 27-year-old guard helped lead the NeoPhoenix to the Central Conference championship title last month against the Toyama Grouses.
They eventually finished third in the overall standings with a 46-14 card following a franchise history 15-game winning streak in the middle of the season.
However, San-En suffered a sweeping quarterfinal loss at the hands of eventual finalist Hiroshima Dragonflies.
Despite falling short of their ultimate goal this season, Ravena had nothing but good words for San-En in their parting.
“Thank you so much for welcoming this young kid from the Philippines with open arms. It’s been a great honor fighting for the club every single game,” Ravena wrote on his Instagram post.
Ravena averaged 12.6 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists in his fourth season with San-En.
“The last 4 years have been a roller-coaster ride from injuries, wins, losses, battles off the court, and everything in between. I’ve most certainly learned a lot about basketball and life in this whole process,” he continued.
“Although we didn’t end exactly how we wanted to, I’m still happy that we were able to win the Conference title.”
By the end of their conference campaign, Ravene had scored a total of 2,000 career points in four years of action for San-En.
Interestingly, Ravena was also the first Filipino to join the Japanese league in 2020 mid-pandemic under its Asian Player Quota system.
The former UAAP standout’s signing in Japan paved the way for fellow Filipinos to find their way to the neighboring league not long after.
Ravena now enters the Japanese league free agency as there’s no announcement yet where he is headed next.
