LPB U21 Round 9: Caballos defeat leader Univ.West

Here is the last round review presented by ESL.

The most crucial game of the last round was a loss of top-ranked Univ.West (7-3) at the home court on Saturday night. Hosts were defeated by third ranked Caballos (6-4) 97-92. It was a good game for Jose Montenegro (191-98) who led his team to a victory with 36 points (!!!) and 9 rebounds. Amilcar Sanchez contributed with 22 points and 8 rebounds for the winners. point guard Gonzalo Ortiz Jr (182-2) answered with 24 points and 9 rebounds for Univ.West. Both coaches used bench players in such tough game. Caballos maintains third place with 6-4 record behind leader Univ.West. Univ.West at the other side still keeps top position with three games lost. They share it with Correcaminos. Caballos are looking forward to face bottom-ranked Panteras (#7) in Panama City in the next round. Univ.West will play at home against Dragones (#6) and is hoping to win this game.
Important game to mention about took place in Colon. First ranked Univ.West (7-3) saved a 2-point victory on the road edging second-best Correcaminos (7-3) 72-70 in the game for the first place. It was a key game for the top position in the league. Point guard Gonzalo Ortiz Jr (182-2) stepped up and scored 19 points and 7 assists for the winners and Arturo Molina chipped in 25 points. Univ.West's coach allowed to play the deep bench players in such tough game. The best for the losing side was forward Jorhiel Zapata (196-2) with a double-double by scoring 20 points and 14 rebounds. Univ.West maintains first place with 7-3 record, which they share with defeated Correcaminos. Univ.West will play against Dragones (#6) in Panama City in the next round which should be theoretically an easy game. Correcaminos will play on the road against Toros (#5) in David and hope to get back on the winning track.
Another exciting game was a derby match between two local teams from Panama City: Atletico (#6) and Panteras (#7). Atletico (4-6) won against visiting Panteras (3-7) 74-68. Oscar Zephyrine nailed a double-double by scoring 22 points and 18 rebounds for the winning side. Isaac Machore came up with a double-double by scoring 23 points, 13 rebounds and 9 assists for Panteras in the defeat. Panteras' coach rotated twelve players in this game, but that didn't help. Atletico moved-up to fourth place, which they share with Dragones and Toros. Loser Panteras stay at the bottom position with seven games lost. Atletico will meet league's leader Univ.West in the next round and it will be quite challenging to get another victory. Panteras will play against Caballos (#3) and hope to secure a win.

In the last two games of round 9 bottom-ranked Toros beat Atletico on the road 66-52. Correcaminos won against Dragones on its own court 77-59.

Correcaminos - Univ.West 70-72

Important game to mention about took place in Colon. First ranked Univ.West (7-3) saved a 2-point victory on the road edging second-best Correcaminos (7-3) 72-70 in the game for the first place. It was a key game for the top position in the league. Point guard Gonzalo Ortiz Jr (182-2) stepped up and scored 19 points and 7 assists for the winners and Arturo Molina (182-3) chipped in 25 points. Univ.West's coach allowed to play the deep bench players in such tough game. The best for the losing side was forward Jorhiel Zapata (196-2) with a double-double by scoring 20 points and 14 rebounds and Roberto Armstrong (182-0) scored 24 points and 7 assists. Univ.West maintains first place with 7-3 record, which they share with defeated Correcaminos. Univ.West will play against Dragones (#6) in Panama City in the next round which should be theoretically an easy game. Correcaminos will play on the road against Toros (#5) in David and hope to get back on the winning track.
Top scorers:
Univ.West: M.Arturo 25+2reb, O.Jr Gonzalo 19+2reb+7ast, Y.Eduardo 10+11reb+3ast, A.Randal 7+8reb+2ast, V.Dayton Hanssel 7+10reb+1ast, W.Aymar 3+2reb
Correcaminos: R.Armstrong 24+3reb+7ast, Z.Jorhiel 20+14reb+2ast, J.Garibaldi 7+4reb+3ast, J.Andrade 6+5reb+2ast, C.Abraham 4+2reb, J.Palacios 4+5reb+4ast

Atletico - Toros 52-66

We could consider it a predictable result in the game between close teams when seventh ranked Toros (4-6) beat 6th ranked Atletico (4-6) in Panama City 66-52 on Thursday. Toros outrebounded Atletico 50-39 including a 19-8 advantage in offensive rebounds. Point guard Guillermo Navarro (170-3) nailed 17 points and 8 assists for the winning side and point guard Daniel Machore (170-6) accounted for 18 points and 7 rebounds. Forward Bryan Anderson (185-1) came up with 19 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists and Oscar Zephyrine (190-0) added 18 points and 12 rebounds respectively for Atletico in the defeat. Toros have a solid series of three victories in a row. They moved-up to fourth place, which they share with Dragones and Atletico. Atletico lost fifth consecutive game. Toros will meet at home bottom-ranked Panteras (#7) in the next round. Atletico will play against the league's leader Univ.West and hope to secure a win.
Top scorers:
Toros: M.Daniel 18+7reb+3ast, G.Navarro 17+4reb+8ast, B.Francisco 16+11reb, d.Gracia Gilberto 4+17reb, N.Ezequiel 4+2reb, B.Edward 3+4reb+2ast
Atletico: B.Anderson 19+9reb+4ast, O.Zephyrine 18+12reb, V.Alex 6+3reb, C.Omar 4+3reb, M.S 2+5reb, M.Fernando 2+2reb+6ast

Atletico - Panteras 74-68

Another exciting game was a derby match between two local teams from Panama City: Atletico (#6) and Panteras (#7). Atletico (4-6) won against visiting Panteras (3-7) 74-68. Oscar Zephyrine (190-0) nailed a double-double by scoring 22 points and 18 rebounds for the winning side and guard Fernando Morales (185-2) accounted for 18 points. Four Atletico players scored in double figures. Isaac Machore came up with a double-double by scoring 23 points, 13 rebounds and 9 assists and forward Justin Diaz (187-2) added 27 points and 9 rebounds respectively for Panteras in the defeat. Panteras' coach rotated twelve players in this game, but that didn't help. Atletico moved-up to fourth place, which they share with Dragones and Toros. Loser Panteras stay at the bottom position with seven games lost. Atletico will meet league's leader Univ.West in the next round and it will be quite challenging to get another victory. Panteras will play against Caballos (#3) and hope to secure a win.
Top scorers:
Atletico: O.Zephyrine 22+18reb+2ast, M.Fernando 18+2reb+3ast, V.Alex 17+3reb, B.Anderson 10+7reb+2ast, A.Armando 4+8reb+1ast, A.Cris 3+4reb+1ast
Panteras: D.Justin 27+9reb, M.Isaac 23+13reb+9ast, A.Herrera 7+1reb+1ast, E.Munoz 6+4reb, G.Jorge 3+1reb, P.Alexander 2+12reb

Correcaminos - Dragones 77-59

Rather expected game when 4th placed Dragones (4-6) lost to second ranked Correcaminos (7-3) in Colon 59-77 on Saturday. Correcaminos dominated down low during the game scoring 46 of its points in the paint compared to Dragones' 22. They looked well-organized offensively handing out 21 assists. Roberto Armstrong (182-0) nailed 13 points and 7 assists for the winning side and forward Jorhiel Zapata (196-2) accounted for 10 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists. Justin Quintero (193-98) came up with 19 points and 5 rebounds and guard Manuel Barnes (187-98) added 16 points respectively for Dragones in the defeat. Both coaches tested many bench players which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. Correcaminos used an opportunity after Univ.West lost their game and moved up joining them at the top position. Loser Dragones keep the fourth place with six games lost. They share the position with Atletico and Toros. Correcaminos will meet Toros (#5) in the next round. Dragones will play against the league's leader Univ.West and hope to secure a win.
Top scorers:
Correcaminos: R.Armstrong 13+3reb+7ast, J.Garibaldi 11+5reb+1ast, Z.Jorhiel 10+7reb+4ast, A.Gedeon 8+6reb+1ast, J.Palacios 8+2reb+2ast, J.Andrade 7+5reb+5ast
Dragones: J.Quintero 19+5reb+2ast, M.Barnes 16+4reb+3ast, J.Lombardo 12+10reb, J.Sanjur 6+6reb+1ast, H.Diego 6+1reb, C.I 0

Univ.West - Caballos 92-97

The most crucial game of the last round was a loss of top-ranked Univ.West (7-3) at the home court on Saturday night. Hosts were defeated by third ranked Caballos (6-4) 97-92. It was a good game for Jose Montenegro (191-98) who led his team to a victory with 36 points (!!!) and 9 rebounds. Amilcar Sanchez contributed with 22 points and 8 rebounds for the winners. Point guard Gonzalo Ortiz Jr (182-2) answered with 24 points and 9 rebounds and Hanssel Vergara Dayton added 15 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists in the effort for Univ.West. Four Caballos and five Univ.West players scored in double figures. Both coaches used bench players in such tough game. Caballos maintains third place with 6-4 record behind leader Univ.West. Univ.West at the other side still keeps top position with three games lost. They share it with Correcaminos. Caballos are looking forward to face bottom-ranked Panteras (#7) in Panama City in the next round. Univ.West will play at home against Dragones (#6) and is hoping to win this game.
Top scorers:
Caballos: J.Montenegro 36+9reb+2ast, S.Amilcar 22+8reb+2ast, E.Lopez 13+7reb+4ast, D.Alberto 10+2reb+3ast, L.Bryan 9+5reb, D.Diego 7+4reb+4ast
Univ.West: O.Jr Gonzalo 24+9reb+2ast, V.Dayton Hanssel 15+9reb+5ast, A.Randal 15+5reb+3ast, Y.Eduardo 13+9reb+2ast, M.Arturo 13+5reb+3ast, V.Andres 9+2reb+1ast



Tags : JOSE MONTENEGRO, CABALLOS DE COCLE AGUADULCE, PANAMANIAN BASKETBALL