Fuerza Regia and Guaros de Lara advance to Semifinal Phase out of Group B

MONTERREY (DIRECTV Liga de las Americas) - The favorites came through. Both Fuerza Regia de Monterrey (Mexico), host of Group B of the DIRECTV Liga de las Americas, and Guaros de Lara (Venezuela), defending champion of the competition, qualified to the Semifinal Phase.

Fuerza Regia came out of this weekend cementing their position as one of the teams to beat in this 2017 edition. The Mexican club dominated Leones de Quilpué (Chile) 109-73 in the first game of the group with a huge performance by the trio of Carlos Rivera, Andy Panko and Hector Hernendez, who combined to score 58 points in the win. Rivera added 10 assists in an impressive offensive display by the host.

In their second game, Fuerza Regia had a heat check, on-fire performance from Hector Hernandez, who scored 26 points (including 6 triples) in the first half.

The host continued its dominant pace with an 89-64 victory over Caballos de Coclé (Panama) in a game in which their virtues as were on full display as a patient, organized team with great length in the paint (dominating Caballos 24-10 in the assists department and 38-29 on the boards).

On the third and final day of competition in the group, Fuerza Regia faced defending champion Guaros de Lara for the first place. It was a competitive game in which both team exchanged leads and had important performances by key players. For Fuerza Regia was Andy Panko, with 25 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists, while for Guaros it was Zach Graham with 23 points, both responsible for carrying the offensive load of their teams.

In the end, the Mexican club closed the game with a very precise attack led by Panko who scored 10 points in the quarter. They won it by the score 84-78 and finished in first place of Group B with an undefeated 3-0 record.

The defending champion of the DIRECTV Liga de las Americas, Guaros de Lara, also qualified to the Semifinal Phase with a 2-1 record, after an excellent start in the first two games of the weekend.

In their debut, the Venezuelans faced Caballos de Coclé and were handicapped by a lack of game rhythm that was the story of the team in this Group Phase. For many Guaros de Lara players this signified their return to the court after ending their participation in the DIRECTV Liga Sudamericana last November, and due to the delay of the start of their national league. And Coclé played tough with a good performance from Ricky Sanchez, who finished with 19 points.

However, Guaros imposed their experience and closed strong in a match in which their offensive versatility was key. The Venezuelan club had four players in double figure and an elite distribution exhibition at the hands of Heissler Guillent, who contributed with 14 assists in the victory over Caballos by the score of 92-83.

Guaros won in their second game against Leones de Quilpué with a great start from veteran Luis Bethelmy, who scored 20 points in the first half of what was a dominant 103-80 victory. The Venezuelans secured their qualification with the win and even after falling against the host in the last day, advanced to the Semifinal Phase where they will continue their defense of the title.

Fuerza Regia and Guaros join Soles de Mexicali (Mexico) and La Unión de Formosa (Argentina), qualified in Group A, as clubs already with a spot in the semifinals.

This Friday, February 3 Group C will be played in Buenos Aires, Argentina with San Lorenzo as host in a series that promises to be the most competitive of the Group Phase with Capitanes de Arecibo (Puerto Rico), Bucaneros de La Guaira (Venezuela) and Hebraica y Macabi (Uruguay), all with high chances of moving forward to the next phase.

The calendar of the Group can be found here.

The DIRECTV Liga de las Americas is broadcasted on DIRECTV (América), Punto2 (Puerto Rico) and on the web at livebasketball.tv (subscription required).

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

FIBA