The Royals of La Vega erased a 17-point deficit to defeat the Leones de Santo Domingo 120-112 in the first game of the best-of-five semifinal series A of the LNB Super League held this Monday at the Fernando Teruel Sports Center here .
A great offense in the second half, with 70 points, was the key for the Royals to take the lead (1-0) in the series.
Entering the third quarter, the vegan team trailed by 17 points, a deficit that they shortened and with a three-pointer by Antonio Peña, with 2:55 left in the third quarter, put the game 80-79 in favor of the Royals.
A total of six players scored double figures in points for the vegan team, led by reinforcement Raphiael Putney, with 24 points and 11 rebounds, followed by Quade Green, with 23 and eight assists; Antonio Peña, with 20 and 7 rebounds, the rookie reinforcement Charles Thomas, with 16 points, and Juan Valenzuela, with 15.
The sets ended 27-34, 23-33, 40-20 and 30-25 in favor of the Royals, who were 1-3 against the Reds so far in the tournament.
For the Lions, Juan Guerrero scored 24 points with 9 rebounds; Kevin Perez contributed 18; Eddy Polanco finished with 16 points, Nick Faust had 11 points, and Yeison Rivera finished with 10.
The Royals shot 58.8 percent from the field with 36 rebounds and 24 assists, while the Reds shot 50 percent with 22 catches and 18 assists.
The Vegans dominated the points in the paint 60-48, and the Scarlets had 69 points from the bench with 23 from the locals.
A spectacular offense and better defense led the Royals to win the third quarter by 20 points (40-20) to enter the last quarter with a three-point advantage (90-87) and erase the deficit of 17 points that the Scarlets had made. in the first half.
From the first quarter, the Lions dominated the different facets of the game to build an advantage that at the end of the first half was 17 points (67-50).
The Scarlets won the first quarter 34-27, and in the second quarter they continued to pound the Royals’ defense, also taking a double-digit lead (33-23).
Nick Faust and Leandro Cabrera and Diego Colón led the “Reds” attack in the first half, but then Kevin Pérez appeared, putting on a show with baskets from different angles.
The Lions’ bench, with 48 points and only 4 from the Royals, was essential to build that advantage.
The locals shot 54 percent (18-33), against 61 percent of the visitors (24-39), who shot 50 percent from three points (6-12), against 30 percent of the Royals (4-13).
game this tuesday
The Titans of the National District welcome the Indios de San Francisco de Macorís this Tuesday at 8:00 p.m., at the San Cristóbal Sports Center.
