San Francisco de Macorís.- Adonis Henríquez scored 19 points to lead the Indios de San Francisco de Macorís to a 79-69 victory over the Soles de Santo Domingo Este this Saturday at the Mario Ortega, thus taking the Jaya team a 2- 1 in the Semifinal A of the National Basketball League (LNB).
Henríquez shot 6-for-12 from the field, 3-for-6 from the field, had 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals for the Indians, who won for the second straight game over the Suns.
Reinforcement Kavell Bigby-Williams added 15 points and 8 rebounds, Juan Miguel Suero finished with 14 points and 8 assists, while Nehemías Morillo finished with 12 points for the winners.
For the Suns, the imported Waverly Austin finished with 15 points and 16 rebounds, Gerardo Suero scored 15 and Tony Mitchell 10 with 7 rebounds.
Supported by 10 points from Juan Miguel Suero, the Indians dominated the first quarter by 5 (27-22). Gerardo Suero and Austin each scored 7 in the first 10 minutes for the Suns.
The local advantage increased to 33-24 with 5:05 of the second quarter, after a basket by Yeikson Montero near the rim. Danilo Núñez scored from three with 19 seconds remaining and the first half ended 39-30.
Henríquez scored 11 points, Suero 10 and Bigby-Williams 6 for the Indians at halftime, while Austin scored 11 points, Suero 7 and Castillo 6 for the Suns.
The Suns made an 8-0 rally to close within 46-47 with 3:53 remaining in the third period. Then a layup by Gerardo Suero put the Greens ahead 52-49 with 1:57 left. Two free throws by Henríquez with 0.3 left left the Indians up 56-55 after three quarters.
A layup in the sky by Juan Miguel Suero gave the Indians a 70-62 lead with 3:31 remaining in the fourth quarter. With 1:38 remaining, Henriquez threw a pass to Bigby-Williams in alley oop, completing a spectacular play that made it 77-64. The Suns never recovered.
The Indians shot 40 percent from the field and held the Suns to 36 percent. They dominated scoring on the fast break 26-17, points off the bench 21-13 and assists 17-14, although they lost rebounds 47-49 and goals in the paint 28-44.
The quarters ended 27-22, 12-8, 17-25 and 23-13 for the Indians.
Match number four between the Indios and the Soles will be held next Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. at the Simón Orozco de Invivienda sports center.
Game on this monday
At 8:00 p.m. at the Mauricio Báez Club, the Santo Domingo Lions (1-1) will host the National District Titans (1-1) in what will be the third matchup of Semifinal B.