Real Esteli fights off Cangrejeros to win third straight game in Group A

CALGARY (Canada) - Real Esteli took down Cangrejeros to win their third straight game in Group A, taking a 96-83 victory to move to three wins heading into their final game against the host Edmonton Stingers.

Esteli got off to a hot start on the heels of Jezreel De Jesus, one of the team’s solid players, as they jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the first two minutes and scored six quick points in transitions.

Their quick pace and control of the defensive boards flustered Cangrejeros, but Ramon Clemente finally got them on the board in their first possession out of a timeout with a three-pointer.

Shutting down any play in the paint, Estelí forced Cangrejeros to take outside shots, though they adjusted easily and found a scoring rhythm to cut their deficit and tie at 23 points each at the end of the quarter.

Points from Emmanuel Andujar, as he led the team with 6, helped cut the lead while Filiberto Rivera and Ramon Clemente both tipping in 5 in the quarter.

 De Jesus dominated the scoring leading both teams with 10 points in the quarter while Real Estelí teammate Ismael Romero controlled the boards, especially defensively.

Despite finding momentum at the end of the first quarter, Cangrejeros were held to just four points through the first seven minutes of the quarter as Real Estelí forced turnovers and increased their lead to 18 points.

"We stuck to the game plan, we just made them take tough shots, we made their big man play one on one because we've got really good players inside," said De Jesus.

Both teams found themselves at the foul line as the physical game resulted in Estelí earning 13 points on 18 free throws in the first half, but eight unanswered points to finish off the second quarter brought Cangrejeros right back into the game as they only trailed by eight.

A 5-point performance from Devon Collier helped Cangrejeros as Andujar was held to just four points, as the two combined for over half of their 17 second quarter points.

While De Jesus continued to be a leader for Estelí as he tallied 14 points and 5 assists by the half, it was Javier Mojica who stepped up with 7 points in the quarter and helped round out a complete team performance.

 A quick seven unanswered points in the first minute and a half helped cut Estelí’s lead to just one, though two back-to-back three-pointers from Mojica in response to Cangrejeros’ electric first minute of play increased the lead back up to 7.

Estelí forced multiple shot clock violations and turnovers to get the ball back, once again finding themselves leading by as many as 19. Cangrejeros’ Jose Rodriquez hit a final second 3-pointer to bring them within 16 heading into the final 10 minutes of play.

Clemente stepped up once again for Cangrejeros as he tipped in 5 points and grabbed 3 rebounds in the quarter, but it was Estelí’s tandem of Romero with 9 points and Mojica with 6 points who controlled the offense as 15 of Estelí’s 25 points came from the two.

 With first place on the line, Cangrejeros once again went on a run of eight unanswered points in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter and cut the lead back down to eight as Rodriguez and Benito Santiago Jr. each scored 4 points.

 

Despite their fast start, De Jesus got back into scoring form after being held to 0 points in the third quarter and scored 6 points on back-to-back three-pointers to bring Estelí in front once again that they would ride to the end of the game.

"We had our spurts, but we just couldn't uphold the energy - we had our runs, it was just like once we had our runs, they would have a couple plays that would take us back down," said Clemente.

"It starts at the beginning of the game, we were playing catch up basically the whole game and that's really tough."

With tonight's result, Cangrejeros and Real Esteli are in a great spot to advance to the Final 8. However, the only way Stingers can qualify to the next stage is if they beat Esteli with more than 47 points on Wednesday.