PUERTO LA CRUZ (Venezuela) – Gladiadores de Anzoátegui handed the only undefeated team in Group A their first loss as they defeated Real Esteli 71-63 at Gimnasio Luis Ramos on Saturday night.

With the lead changing 8 times throughout the game, most of those changes came in the first quarter as Gladiadores took a slight 21-18 lead of the back of Anthony Perez and William Walker as Ismael Romero and Jared Ruiz both held down the offense for Esteli.

The three point deficit held to the second quarter as Gladiadores edged Esteli 37-34 at the half thanks to Nestor Colmenares adding 5 points alongside Jhonatan Araujo controlling the boards grabbing 7 defensive rebounds by the half.

Emmitt Williams did his best to keep Esteli close as he tallied 10 points by the half but with their bench rotation unable to get to the rim Gladiadores kept their slight lead at the half.

Esteli started to find their rhythm in the third quarter as Williams erupted for 9 more points while Adonys Henriquez added 11, giving them a five-point lead of 56-51 going into the final frame.

Gladiadores still controlled their destiny as they had a foot up on Esteli in transition and in the paint, but Anthony Perez's 6 points were not enough to keep the lead and they would have to fight back in the last 10 minutes.

They did exactly that, shooting 57.5 percent on the floor from two-point range and shooting a solid 90 percent from the free throw line, as Gregory Vargas added 8 point in the quarter and controlling the boards on both ends as well as producing 16 points from the bench to seal the win.

Vargas led Gladiadores with 18 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists while Colmenares added a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Vargas also honored his Gladiadores teammate Garly Sojo, who passed away in December, with a tattoo on his forearm.

Williams led Esteli with 19 points and 7 rebounds and Henriquez added 17 points and 8 rebounds in the loss.

FIBA