LUB Round 17 (Regular Season): Derby game ends with Bigua's defeat of Urunday

The games at this stage are more interesting as they can be crucial for the final standings in Regular Season. Despite we already know who is stronger and who is weaker, there may be still last minute surprises and upsets. Here is the last round review presented by Job Market.

The most exciting game was a derby match between two local teams from Montevideo: Bigua (#7) and Urunday (#8). Bigua (9-7) won against visiting Urunday (7-9) 87-74. Strangely Urunday outrebounded Bigua 42-28 including a 21-3 advantage in offensive rebounds. Bigua looked well-organized offensively handing out 21 assists. Dominican Jhery Matos (196-1996, college: Charlotte) orchestrated the victory by scoring 26 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. American power forward Willie Reed (211-1990, college: St.Louis, agency: Diamond Sports) contributed with 14 points, 7 rebounds and 4 blocks (on 6-of-7 shooting from the field) for the winners. point guard Mateo Sarni (185-1998) answered with a double-double by scoring 14 points, 6 rebounds and 11 assists for Urunday. Urunday's coach Mauricio Gonzalez rotated ten players in this game, but that didn't help. Bigua moved-up to sixth place. Urunday at the other side keeps the eighth position with nine games lost. They share it with U.Atletica. Bigua will have a break next round, and it should allow them to practice more before next game. Urunday's supporters look forward to another derby game next round, where their team will travel locally in Montevideo to the arena Hebraica.
Tenth-ranked Goes (4-12) used its home court advantage to challenge third ranked Malvin (11-5) in Montevideo. The visitors managed to secure only three-point victory 86-83. However their fans expected much easier game. Forward Octavio Medina (195-1996) stepped up with a double-double by scoring 12 points and 10 rebounds for the winners and Santiago Fernandez chipped in 12 points and 6 assists. American Akia Pruitt (203-1997, college: UNCP) responded with 21 points and 8 rebounds. Malvin maintains third place with 11-5 record having just two points less than leader Penarol. Newly promoted Goes keep the tenth position with 12 games lost. Malvin's supporters look forward to an exciting derby game next round, where their team will face at home their local rival from Montevideo Defensor.
Worth to mention about the upset in a game between Defensor (8-7) and U.Atletica (7-9), which took place in Montevideo. 6th ranked Defensor lost at home to ninth ranked U.Atletica 77-87 on Thursday. Christian Alaekwe nailed a double-double by scoring 23 points, 12 rebounds and 7 assists for the winning side. Facundo Terra came up with 18 points and 6 rebounds for Defensor in the defeat. U.Atletica moved-up to eighth place, which they share with Urunday. Loser Defensor dropped to the seventh position with seven games lost. U.Atletica's supporters look forward to an exciting derby game next round, where their team will face at home their local rival from Montevideo Goes.

In the last game of round 17 Cordon beat Welcome on the road 86-73.
The most impressive performance of 17th round was 28 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals by Devon Higgs of Cordon.



Bigua - Urunday 87-74

The most exciting game was a derby match between two local teams from Montevideo: Bigua (#7) and Urunday (#8). Bigua (9-7) won against visiting Urunday (7-9) 87-74. Strangely Urunday outrebounded Bigua 42-28 including a 21-3 advantage in offensive rebounds. Bigua looked well-organized offensively handing out 21 assists. Dominican Jhery Matos (196-1996, college: Charlotte) orchestrated the victory by scoring 26 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. American power forward Willie Reed (211-1990, college: St.Louis, agency: Diamond Sports) contributed with 14 points, 7 rebounds and 4 blocks (on 6-of-7 shooting from the field) for the winners. point guard Mateo Sarni (185-1998) answered with a double-double by scoring 14 points, 6 rebounds and 11 assists and American center Eric Buckner (208-1990, college: Georgia St.) added 14 points and 10 rebounds (on 7-of-9 shooting from the field) in the effort for Urunday. Both teams had four players each who scored in double figures. Urunday's coach Mauricio Gonzalez rotated ten players in this game, but that didn't help. Bigua moved-up to sixth place. Urunday at the other side keeps the eighth position with nine games lost. They share it with U.Atletica. Bigua will have a break next round, and it should allow them to practice more before next game. Urunday's supporters look forward to another derby game next round, where their team will travel locally in Montevideo to the arena Hebraica.
Top scorers:
Urunday: E.Buckner 14+10reb+1ast, M.Sarni 14+6reb+11ast, E.Demers 11+7reb+1ast, B.Matias 10+5reb+2ast, S.Massa 8+1reb, J.Sacco 6+4reb+1ast
Bigua: M.Jhery 26+5reb+5ast, R.Willie 14+7reb+2ast, I.Gonzalo 11+4reb+3ast, O.Sebastian 10+3reb+1ast, H.Deshone 9+5reb+6ast, R.Thiago 6+1reb+3ast

Goes - Malvin 83-86

Tenth-ranked Goes (4-12) used its home court advantage to challenge third ranked Malvin (11-5) in Montevideo. The visitors managed to secure only three-point victory 86-83. However their fans expected much easier game. Malvin dominated down low during the game scoring 56 of its points in the paint compared to Goes' 30. They outrebounded Goes 36-25 including 24 on the defensive glass. Forward Octavio Medina (195-1996) stepped up with a double-double by scoring 12 points and 10 rebounds for the winners and guard Santiago Fernandez (186-2000) chipped in 12 points and 6 assists. Five Malvin players scored in double figures. American Akia Pruitt (203-1997, college: UNCP) responded with 21 points and 8 rebounds and the other American import guard Troy Cracknell (193-1999, college: Augusta) scored 18 points and 8 assists. Malvin maintains third place with 11-5 record having just two points less than leader Penarol. Newly promoted Goes keep the tenth position with 12 games lost. Malvin's supporters look forward to an exciting derby game next round, where their team will face at home their local rival from Montevideo Defensor.
Top scorers:
Goes: A.Pruitt 21+8reb+3ast, T.Cracknell 18+3reb+8ast, D.Santos Ignacio 11+1reb+1ast, J.Strings 8+2reb+1ast, E.Bonet 8+1reb+2ast, A.Acosta 8+4reb+1ast
Malvin: W.Joshua 14+1reb+3ast, Z.Dragan 14+5reb+1ast, D.Darrell 13+4reb+2ast, F.Santiago 12+4reb+6ast, M.Octavio 12+10reb, M.Nicolas 8+2reb

Defensor - U.Atletica 77-87

Worth to mention about the upset in a game between Defensor (8-7) and U.Atletica (7-9), which took place in Montevideo. 6th ranked Defensor lost at home to ninth ranked U.Atletica 77-87 on Thursday. American swingman Christian Alaekwe (193-1998, college: St.Thomas, TX) nailed a double-double by scoring 23 points, 12 rebounds and 7 assists for the winning side and his fellow American import power forward Quatarrius Wilson (203-1996, college: SEMO, agency: One Motive Sports) accounted for 22 points. Guard Facundo Terra (187-1998) came up with 18 points and 6 rebounds and American point guard Elijah Weaver (197-1998, college: Chicago St.) added 16 points and 5 assists respectively for Defensor in the defeat. U.Atletica moved-up to eighth place, which they share with Urunday. Loser Defensor dropped to the seventh position with seven games lost. U.Atletica's supporters look forward to an exciting derby game next round, where their team will face at home their local rival from Montevideo Goes.
Top scorers:
Defensor: F.Terra 18+6reb+2ast, T.Metzger 17+7reb, E.Weaver 16+4reb+5ast, N.Colmenares 7+12reb+1ast, E.Ewing 7+4reb+1ast, M.Zubiaurre 6+2reb+1ast
U.Atletica: A.Christian 23+12reb+7ast, W.Quatarrius 22+4reb+3ast, T.Prince 19+8reb+2ast, D.Juan 8+5reb+1ast, S.Guillermo 6+2reb+2ast, G.Mateo 6+4reb+3ast

Welcome - Cordon 73-86

The game between closely ranked teams ended with eleventh ranked Cordon's (3-13) road victory over bottom-ranked Welcome (1-15) in Montevideo 86-73 on Friday. American guard Devon Higgs (196-2000, college: GSW, agency: JCK Sports Group) nailed 28 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals for the winning side and his fellow American import guard Addison Spruill (195-1993, college: UNCW) accounted for 20 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists. Higgs is a former Eurobasket Summer League player, which is considered top international summer league in the market. American Terrance Ferguson (198-1997) came up with 20 points and 5 rebounds and forward Angel Arevalo (195-2001) added 9 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists respectively for Welcome in the defeat. Four Welcome players scored in double figures. Both coaches used bench players which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. Cordon maintains eleventh place with 3-13 record. Welcome lost third consecutive game. They stay at the bottom position with 15 games lost. Cordon's supporters look forward to an exciting derby game next round, where their team will face at home their local rival from Montevideo Aguada.
Top scorers:
Welcome: T.Ferguson 20+5reb+1ast, S.Moglia 14+6reb, F.Garcia 12+2ast, P.Rafael 10+6reb, A.Angel 9+10reb+4ast, G.Diego 7
Cordon: H.Devon 28+6reb+4ast, A.Spruill 20+10reb+4ast, O.Jordan 15+10reb+3ast, R.Pierino 9+6reb+3ast, T.Leites 8+9reb, F.Medina 2+1reb