BARRANQUILLA (Colombia) – Antonio Pena's 22 points and 8 rebounds led Titanes to a dominant win over Real Esteli, 98-66, on Saturday night in Group A play at Coliseo Deportivo Elias Chegwin.

8 points separated the two teams as Titanes inched past Real Esteli the last time they faced off on 5 February, 2021, but this game would be the definitive match where Titanes separated themselves from the rest.

Renaldo Balkman, Jezreel De Jesus and Jared Ruiz have been top performers on all areas of the court for Real Esteli, as the top three scorers on the team as well as Balkman leading the team in rebounds and Ruiz leading the team in assists, with De Jesus in the top three of both categories, but the trio was not enough to take down the force of Titanes.

Titanes started the game strong with an 11-point lead to finish the first quarter, ending 27-16, with Jonathan Rodriguez already putting 11 points on the board by himself, while defensively holding Real Esteli's scorers to less than 5 points each.

Balkman tried to keep Real Esteli in the game defensively, grabbing 4 boards in the first quarter alone, but with the three top performers only combining for 7 points it was a rocky start.

The second quarter did not start off well for Real Esteli either, as Titanes went on a 16-0 run during the first 5 minutes of the game to increase their lead by almost 30 points. Pena had already tallied 17 of his total points by the mid-second quarter, while Juan Tello, who just came off a great AmeriCup performance for his home country of Colombia, added 9 of his own.

Real Esteli would slightly cut the lead, ending the half 51-30, with Balkman leading all scorers with 9 points, and Javier Mojica adding 7 as well to cut the deficit to 19.

The dominance of Titanes continued throughout the third quarter, ending off 77-45, as Adris De Leon racked up 16 points by the beginning of the 4th while Selem Safar added 9 of his own.

The final score was a 32 point win for Titanes, 98-66, with four different scorers tallying 16 or more points, while Balkman’s one man show double-double of 23 points and 16 rebounds just wasn't enough to keep Real Esteli in the match.

Rodriguez and Pena combined for 15 rebounds defensively for Titanes, and inching the team further to secure their first place spot in a competitive group during the tournament.

FIBA