Halcones edge out Gladiadores in Group A action

XALAPA (Mexico) - Halcones de Xalapa got the upper hand against Gladiadores de Anzoátegui with a 91-87 win in a close win on Monday night at Gimnasio Universitario.

With the Halcones win, all teams in Group A are still alive in the chance to secure a spot in the Basketball Champions League Americas Quarterfinals.

In the first quarter Halcones looked like they were going to cruise to victory as they had scored 32 first quarter points and led by 14 thanks to Jordan Glynn tallying 8 points and 4 rebounds early while Daniel Bejerano and Raised Mahalbasic both added 7 points each.

Jhonatan Araujo went 100 percent from the field for 8 points including two from deep for Gladiadores in the first quarter, but with no other player adding more than 3 points, and Charles Garcia being the only player controlling the defensive boards, they had ground to make up before the half.

But as Gladiadores have done before, they pulled together quickly and this time kept Halcones at bay while Jordan Crawford added 5 points in the quarter while Araujo also added another 5 and Gladiadores’ bench contributed 21 total points through the first half to cut the deficit to just 2 points.

Halcones was still winning the turnover battle as Gladiadores committed 11 turnovers that led to 8 points for Halcones, but the Gladiadores rotation was starting to come together.

Riding the momentum from the second quarter, Gladiadores improved their shooting from mid-range on the floor while continuing to shoot over 70 percent from three-point range as Araujo,Garcia and Anthony Perez were all hot shooting at least 55 percent each.

Bejerano and Gabriel Giron kept Halcones in the game as they had a better performance than the second quarter, but Gladiadores tallied another 27 points after recording 26 in the second quarter, and also forced 3 turnovers good for 7 points after having none in the first half.

Going into the final 10 minutes, Gladiadores held a 6-point lead, their biggest of the game, but with the talent and drive on Halcones roster, no lead is ever safe.

David Cubillan and Alexis Elsener tallied 10 and 6 points respectively, with Cubillan hitting two from long range to bring his total on the day to 4, while Elsener continued to push on the floor despite not hitting a shot in close through the first three quarters.

Glynn and Elsener kept Gladiadores away from as many second chance points as possible, keeping them off the defensive boards, while Mahalbasic ran the game and dished out dimes orchestrating scoring plays to put the momentum back on Halcones side, good for 26 points to 16 from Gladiadores.

Having to make up for the deficit created between the second and third quarters, Elsener and Cubillan helped lead Halcones on a 13-0 run to start the quarter, which gave them a 7-point cushion to ride until the end of the game.

Gregory Vargas had a solid fourth quarter for Gladiadores and made it a 3-point game with 44 seconds to play, before hitting a free throw to make it a two-point game with 20 seconds left.

But one final foul and two made free throws from Tjader Fernandez sealed the win for Halcones.

Cubillan led Halcones with 16 points while Elsener and Giron both added 14, with Glynn leading the defensive charge notching 8 rebounds and 2 steals.

Araujo led Gladiadores with 17 points and 5 rebounds, Perez added 15 points, and Crawford and Vargas both added 13 points in the loss.

FIBA