MIAMI (United States) – After Group A previously had to postpone their second stage of action, the three teams traveled to Nicarauga to make up their games. Cangrejeros and Real Estelí kicked off the action in a back-and-forth thriller just like their December matchup, a game that was a fight to the very end where this time Real Estelí got the better of Cangrejeros to win 82-78.

Cangrejeros jumped out to a hot start, leading 10-2 early in the first quarter. But controlling ball movement in transition to get to the rim allowed Real Estelí to come back and keep the game close, and trailing by one near the end of the quarter Alexander Franklin hit a three-point shot with four seconds remaining to give Real Estelí the lead 19-17.

Coming off a stellar performance for Puerto Rico during the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Americas qualifiers, Jezreel De Jesus continued to lead Real Estelí’s offensive charge in the second quarter, scoring seven points to bring his total up to 12 by halftime, while Franklin and Javier Mojica both tipped in eight.

With both teams scoring 23 points in the second quarter, Real Estelí hung on by just two points going into halftime. Cangrejeros balanced their offensive game with five players scoring five points or more by halftime with Emmanuel Andujar leading the team with eight points, with six coming from the foul line where he shot 100 percent as Real Estelí allowed Cangrejeros to come back from the free throw line.

While both teams played physically and locked down defensively, Cangrejeros struggled to find momentum in the third quarter, scoring just 12 points to Real Estelí’s 17. Giving Esteli a seven-point lead heading into the final ten minutes off play from De Jesus, Mojica, and Ysmael Romero, who tipped in six points in the quarter – over a third of the team’s total for the quarter – to rack up 10 points.

Ramon Clemente tallied five points for Cangrejeros to bring his total to 11, but with little help from the rest of the bench, they would need one final push in the last quarter to try and take home a win after the momentum had stayed with Real Estelí.

That momentum would come in the form of a 12-0 run, holding Real Estelí scoreless for over three minutes in the quarter and taking a five-point lead before Rigoberto Mendoza finally hit a jumper for Real Estelí.

Six unanswered points with just over three minutes to play would prove to be enough to keep Real Estelí hanging on for the win, taking back a five-point lead that would stretch all the way to seven with just over a minute left in the game. Yet even while Cangrejeros were down, they refused to be out, and Davon Jefferson controlled the glass on both sides of the ball and scored five points in the final seconds of the game, but it was not enough to find a win as they fell by four points.

Jefferson led all Cangrejeros scorers with 17 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks, with Christopher Gaston adding 12 points and 7 rebounds including eight points in the final quarter. But shooting would be the team’s downfall as they shot just 37 percent from the floor in the loss.

For Real Estelí, Romero led the scoring with 18 points and led the team with 9 rebounds, while Mojica and Mendoza both added 16 points of their own and Mendoza adding 8 rebounds. Point guard De Jesus finished the game with 14 points as well and 5 assists.

FIBA