Honey Badgers Drop BCLA Window Two Opener 106-90 Against Libertadores

The Brampton Honey Badgers dropped a 106-90 decision to Mexican team Libertadores on Tuesday to open the second window of the 2023 Basketball Champions League Americas in Managua, Nicaragua. 

Libertadores was led by a 25-point performance from Branden Frazier and 19 points from Juan Tello while Paul Stoll had 10 assists in the victory. Frazier shot 7-for-9 from the floor. The Honey Badgers finished with six players in double figures, but they were unable to slow Libertadores once they got going. Josh Ibarra and Steve Taylor Jr. finished with 15 points apiece, with Ibarra also adding eight rebounds, while Rayvonte Rice added 13 points and Jahvon Henry-Blair had 12. Alexander Campbell and Gelvis Solano added 11 points apiece in the loss. 

The Honey Badgers got off to a strong start against Libertadores, shooting 53 percent from the floor in a close opening quarter, but a 12-0 run for Libertadores spanning the end of the first and start of the second quarters completely flipped the game and despite their best efforts, Brampton wasn’t able to recover.

Libertadores went from trailing by two in the first quarter to leading 37-27 in the second as Brampton called timeout with 9:20 remaining in the half. Ibarra finally snapped the scoring drought for the Honey Badgers with an offensive rebound and putback and then Campbell made one of two free throws to get Brampton back within seven. After a steal from Ibarra led to a driving layup from Rice, Brampton was within five, forcing Libertadores to call a timeout of their own with 7:53 remaining in the half.

Once again, Libertadores put together a push out of a timeout, this time using a 19-3 run to take a 21-point lead with 2:57 remaining in the half. A three from Henry-Blair and a putback dunk from Sean Miller-Moore trimmed the lead down to 16 points, but Brampton went into the half trailing 58-42, despite their strong start in the opening quarter.

The Honey Badgers were outscored 28-15 in that decisive second quarter. Frazier led all scorers with 14 points at the half, while Liz added 11 for a Libertadores team that shot 59 percent from the floor as Brampton’s field goal percentage dropped to just 40 percent at the half.

For the game, Libertadores shot 54 percent while Brampton finished 44 percent from the floor.

The depth and familiarity of the Libertadores roster was difficult to overcome as the team finished with 33 assists on 37 made field goals. Brampton finished with 19 assists in the loss. After the Libertadores bench outscored Brampton’s 31-8 at the half, they finished the game with a 62-25 advantage from their reserves. 

Brampton did a solid job holding Libertadores to just nine points through the first six minutes of the third, but Libertadores closed the quarter on a 13-8 run after a timeout with 3:54 remaining in the quarter to go into the fourth leading by 13, 80-67.

Libertadores continued to hold control throughout the fourth despite Brampton’s best efforts. Henry-Blair opened fourth-quarter scoring with a three-pointer to get Brampton within 10, but Libertadores responded immediately. When a three-pointer from Campbell brought Brampton within seven with 6:09 remaining, Libertadores quickly scored eight straight to go back in front by 15. The Honey Badgers wouldn’t get any closer the rest of the way as Libertadores continued to push their lead and pick up the victory. The win moves Libertadores to 3-1 in the BCLAs, while the loss means Brampton is still seeking its first victory in the event.

Up next for the Honey Badgers is a meeting with host team Real Esteli on Wednesday, January 18 at 8pm ET. The game will be available to watch for free on CEBL+.