MONTERREY (DIRECTV Liga de las Americas) - Tonight marks the start of the 2018 DIRECTV Liga de las Américas with a group stacked with teams with vast continental basketball experience.

Ferro (Argentina), Capitanes de Arecibo (Puerto Rico), Soles de Mexicali (México) and host Fuerza Regia (México) will start their journey to secure one of the two spots that Group A has available for the Semi-Final Phase of the competition.

Argentinian club Ferro arrives at the DIRECTV Liga de las Américas with a 5-5 record in their Liga Nacional, lead by Aaron Harper who averages 12.7 points per game. Ferro has climbed to the top of the podium in their national league on three occasions: 1985, 1986 and 1989. This will be their first time participating in the most important international club competition of the continent.

Capitanes de Arecibo needs no introduction. They are one of the historic clubs of the DIRECTV Liga de las Américas, being the only team to participate in all editions. Capitanes was the runner-up of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional in the 2017 season and even if they don’t have their star David Huertas on the roster, they arrive with a team reinforced with national players with experience in their national team with the likes of Ricky Sánchez, Juan Rivas and Alex Galindo.

Soles de Mexicali will play in the DIRECTV Liga de las Américas for the second edition in a row, fifth time in their history, after being the runner-up in the Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional of México in the 2016/17 season. Currently they stand on third place in their national league with a 19-9 record. The scoring combination of Orlando Méndez and Lucas Martínez will be a key factor for the success of Soles in this 2018 DIRECTV Liga de las Américas.

Host Fuerza Regia arrives as the 2016/17 champion of the Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional of México, their first championship in the national league. Additionaly, they sure have big plans in this DIRECTV Liga de las Américas edition after reaching the Final4 in the 2017 edition, only to fall to Bahía Basket (ARG) in the Semi-Finals and Leones de Ponce (PUR) in the game for the third place. Currently they stand in fourth place in their national league with a record of 18-11. Their core cast counts on Andy Panko’s experience, Juan Toscano’s athleticism and Denis Clemente’s guidance, all with previous international experience.

Group A of the DIRECTV Liga de las Américas promises to deliver a great basketball performance to open up this 2018 edition. Key factors are in: teams with international caliber and players with international competition experience.

Remember to follow all the action of the DIRECTV Liga de las Américas on social media: @Ligamericas on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.