Halcones dominate fourth quarter over Real Esteli to top Group A

XALAPA (Mexico) - A convincing fourth quarter sealed a win for Halcones de Xalapa over Real Estelí in a 100-75 victory on Friday night to close out Group A play in Basketball Champions League Americas action at Gimnasio Universitario.

Halcones de Xalapa now advance to the BCL Americas Quarterfinals.

The trio of Gabriel Giron, Tjader Fernandez and Rasid Mahalbasic combined for over 20 points early, with Halcones leading Estelí 26-20 after the first quarter.

Terrell Holloway had already tallied 10 points for Estelí early, with Ismael Romero adding another 6, but the rest of the bench had to find a rhythm.

While the first and second quarters were both close back-and-forth affairs, Estelí found themselves trailing by 10 with less than 5 minutes to play in the first half, as Estelí had committed 9 turnovers that resulted in 12 points for Halcones.

Estelí fought back thanks to the efforts of Holloway, Romero and Jared Ruiz to cut the deficit to 4 points at halftime as they controlled the game down low.

While the momentum was on Estelí's side, Halcones pushed back in the third quarter as David Cubillan and Jordan Glynn added to Giron's scoring heater, but Romero and Ruiz added their own as Estelí shot near 60 percent from the floor and kept it close.

But the fourth quarter was all Halcones as they kept Estelí to 9 points while scoring 26 of their own, as Estelí struggled from deep and could not keep up with the strength of Halcones' bench to close out the game despite controlling points in transition.

Giron led Halcones with 25 points and 6 assists, while Glynn added 18 points and 8 rebounds as Fernandez added 15 points.

Romero led Estelí with 24 points including 10-of-14 shooting from two-point range along with 9 rebounds, while Holloway and Ruiz added 13 points each.

FIBA