PUR - Dalmau leads Bayamon to victory, Quebradillas near perfect in defeat of San German

HUMACAO (Baloncesto Superior Nacional) - Christian Dalmau came one rebound shy of a triple-double as he led Vaqueros de Bayamon to a 92-83 win over Caciques de Humacao in Baloncesto Superior Nacional of Puerto Rico.

Dalmau, the favourite to win the league's Most Valuable Player award, scored 31 points, handed out 10 assists and grabbed nine rebounds as second-place Bayamon improved to 15-5.

The 34-year-old star was well helped as Franklin Western added 16 points, Carmelo Lee had 15 and Terrence Shannon chipped in with 14.

Humacao had the better start, taking a 16-13 lead at the end of the opening period, but Bayamon fought back, outscoring their opponents 33-8 in the second quarter for a 46-24 cushion at the intermission.

In the second half, Humacao made a strong run to cut into Bayamon's big lead, getting within 82-73 with four minutes left to play, but Shannon and Dalmau made sure they would not get any closer the rest of the way.

John Millsap led Humacao with 24 points while James Mays and Miguel Ali Berdiel had 18 each.

Meanwhile, Gallitos de Isabela crushed Indios de Mayagüez 100-83 behind 62 combined points by the trio of Filiberto Rivera, Rafael Perez and Darnell Hinson.

The win saw Isabela improve to 8-11 record, with five of those wins on the road while last-place Mayagüez dropped to 3-16.

Elsewhere, Shawn Redhage did what Dalmau couldn't, scoring a triple-double to lead Piratas de Quebradillas past Atleticos de San German 105-84.

The Australian forward had 24 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists as well as six steals as Quebradillas shot 60 percent from two-point range (27-45) and a sizzling 64 percent from beyond the arc (16-25) to dominate the whole way.

In Thursday's other game, Ricky Sanchez had 27 points to help Cangrejeros de Santurce edge out Mets de Guaynabo 87-82. Wilfredo Pagan added 16 for the winners.

On Friday night, Leones de Ponce pay a visit to Caciques de Humacao while Capitanes de Arecibo play in San German against Atleticos.

FIBA