Cangrejeros move on after dominance over Stingers

MIAMI (United States) - Cangrejeros continued their full-speed charge to stay on top of Group A as they beat Edmonton Stingers 93-55 in Group A action at Polideportivo Alexis Argüello on Saturday night.

After a hard-fought battle against Real Estelí gave Cangrejeros their first loss in Group A, they were looking to bounce back in their second of back-to-back games, this time against Stingers, who they previously had taken down 89-68 during the first stage of group play in December.

 

Right out of the gate Cangrejeros asserted their offensive dominance, with Davon Jefferson using the momentum from his stellar fourth quarter the day before to push his team to a win, shooting 100 percent from the floor in the first quarter along with Angel Rodriquez adding to the offense’s firepower as the two combined for 16 of Cangrejeros’ 26 points in the quarter.

Stingers ran into trouble early with their shooting – making just 31 percent of shots compared to their red-hot opponent’s 68 percent – with their leading scorer in the quarter Chad Posthumus tallying just four points, though the Stingers offense found a balanced rhythm early that allowed six different players to get on the board to start the match.

Already leading by 10 after the first quarter, Cangrejeros pulled away further as Isaac Sosa went off for 10 points in the quarter, bringing his total to 15, while Jefferson controlled the defensive boards to keep Stingers at bay.

Posthumus and Murphy Burnatowski both managed to tip in five points each during the quarter, and Posthumus made an impact defensively for Stingers, but still unable to hit those shots while Cangrejeros dominated on both sides of the ball left them trailing by 18 going into halftime with Cangrejeros leading 48-30.

Defensively Cangrejeros sealed the win for themselves in the third quarter holding Stingers to just eight points while scoring 18 themselves, extending their lead to 28 which would prove too much for Stingers to bounce back from despite seeing more success in the fourth quarter.

With three players already scoring in double digits, Cangrejeros showed that their bench depth was still enough to play anyone in Group A, with Alexander Abreu and Benito Santiago Jr. taking control this time, capitalizing on free throw chances to increase their lead.

Holding Posthumus to just two points and holding Jaylen Harrison to none – two offensive threats for Stingers in the first half – was key for Cangrejeros as they continued to run away with the lead heading into the final quarter of play.

Even posting 17 points in the last ten minutes of play would not be enough for Stingers as Cangrejeros continued to dominate and tallied their highest scoring quarter of the game with 27 points.

Showing off their rotation even in the fourth quarter with starters on the bench, Cangrejeros had five different scorers with 10 or more points in the game as Jose Rodriguez joined the club finishing the game with ten points, while Christopher Gaston finished with an almost double-double of 9 points and 10 rebounds. Even without playing in the fourth quarter, Sosa led all scorers with 15 points while Jefferson recorded a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds.

For Stingers, their shooting continued to plague them in the loss, shooting just 28 percent, and while Joshua Selby added eight points including six in the final quarter, with Posthumus as the only player to score over 10 points while Stingers also lost battles on both offensive and defensive boards, the game was too far out of reach to come back from.

 

FIBA