10 reasons to follow Semi-Final #2 in Ponce

PONCE (DIRECTV Americas League 2017) - The continent's biggest basketball club competition returns to Ponce, Puerto Rico this weekend in a second semifinal group that promises to be of the highest level and competitiveness so far this season. Argentine champion San Lorenzo, Uruguayan champion Hebraica and Macabi, DIRECTV Liga Sudamericana runner-up Weber Bahía Basket and host Leones of Ponce will look for one of two Final4 spots at stake.

Here are 10 reasons why this DIRECTV Liga de las Americas weekend in Ponce, Puerto Rico is a must-watch event for basketball fans:

10) Offensive firepower: This semifinal has the three best scorers in the 2017 edition in Gabriel Deck (25.3ppg), Angel Daniel Vassallo (22ppg) and Michael Hicks (21.7ppg).

9) San Lorenzo: The Argentine club is one of the biggest sport brands in the Americas continent, visiting one of the cities with the highest tradition in the history of club basketball. The story writes itself.

8) Bahía vs. Ponce Rematch: The game between the Argentine and Puertorrican club was a classic in the Group Phase that went to overtime and had great individual performances by Vassallo (Leones) with 34 points and 7 rebounds, and Anthony Johnson (Bahia) with 22 points and 7 rebounds in the 96-92 win. There will be a rematch of the game tonight.

7) Leandro García Morales: The Uruguayan is one of the legends of the competition and showed to be playing at a high level in the Group Phase (averaging 19.7 points and 4 three-pointers per game). He has played with five teams (Aguada, Biguá, Cocodrilos de Caracas and Halcones de Xalapa) on the continental stage and is 31 points away from becoming the all-time scoring leader in the DIRECTV League of the Americas.

6) San Lorenzo Vs. Hebraica rematch: This was another great game in the Group Stage that have its rematch to open this second semifinal. On the first occasion that both teams met, in Buenos Aires, San Lorenzo won 82-75 in a dramatic encounter that went up to the final minute and featured big performances from Gabriel Deck with 29 points and 6 rebounds, and Garcia Morales who scored 22 points and 6 three-pointers in lost cause.

5) Ponce fans: The Juan Pachín Vicens auditorium had the best attendance in the Group Phase and it is expected to be even greater in the Semi-Finals.

4) Carlos Arroyo: The legendary Puerto Rican point guard did not disappoint in his continental debut with the Leones of Ponce, proving to be at a high level with a number of spectacular plays and in total control of a team that had not been playing up to that point. His averages were 16.7 points and 6.3 assists per game in the Group Phase.

3) Panamanians: The combination of Michael Hicks and Jaime Lloreda in the Group Stage was decisive for Hebraica and Macabi to advance to this Semi-Final. His overall averages were 35.7 points and 19.7 rebounds per game. Lloreda even equaled the record for most rebounds in a game with 21 against Bucaneros de La Guaira.

2) Point guards: The point guard battles in the second Semi-Final will be stellar without a doubt. Three of the top players in the assist category in the Group Phase will be in this Semo-Final with Penka Aguirre (leader of the 2017 edition with 8 assists per game), Luciano Parodi (6.7apg) and Carlos Arroyo (6.3apg). When the Facundo Corvalán and Lucio Redivo combo is added for Weber Bahía Basket, it guarantees a high-level of point-guard play this weekend in Ponce.

1) Tradition: The history that accompanies this Semi-Final is indisputable. The host is one of the most traditional teams in club basketball worldwide, having won 14 titles in Puerto Rico, including in 1952 and 54 with Tex Winters as coach and with legends of the international having worn their uniform. Hebraica and Macabi is a club founded in 1939 with three titles in Uruguayan basketball. San Lorenzo Almagro, although new to the international basketball scene is a club founded in 1908 and with a loyal fan base that follows the team throughout the continent in international competitions. And Weber Bahía Basket is the club that replaces Estudiantes de Bahía, the historic team of the Argentine league through where immortal legends of world basketball have played such as Juan "Pepe" Sánchez, Juan Espil and Emanuel Ginobili.

These teams will seek to advance to the Final4 of the DIRECTV Liga de las Americas to be played on March 17-18 in a city yet to be determined.

The first two teams qualified to the Final4 were Fuerza Regia (Mexico) and Guaros de Lara (Venezuela) last weekend in Monterrey.

The Liga de las Americas will be broadcasted in DIRECTV (Americas), Telemundo (Puerto Rico) and livebasketball.tv (subscription required).

For the best coverage of the DIRECTV Liga de las Americas 2017, visit ligamericas.com and our @ligamericas social networks.

FIBA