The Edmonton Stingers began window two of group stage action in the Basketball Champions League of Americas (BCLA) competition with a 93-55 loss to the Puerto Rican club Cangrejeros Saturday night in Nicaragua. Isaac Sosa led the way for Cangrejeros with a game-high 15 points, while Davon Jefferson recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Chad Posthumus topped the scoresheet for the Stingers with a team best 11 points and eight rebounds.
The Puerto Rican squad started strong, looking to avenge an 82-78 loss to host club Real Estelí of Nicaragua Friday night. This marked Cangrejeros’ first loss of the group stage after going 2-0 during the first window back in December. This team entered tonight’s contest having played together for an entire season leading up to the tournament, whereas the Stingers made several changes to their window one roster and had eight different players making their BCLA debut. The first half saw Stingers acting head coach Victor Raso cycle through players, looking to find a lineup that had built chemistry during the team’s three-day training camp.
On the opposing end, Cangrejeros team cohesiveness was on full display early in the game. Forward Davon Jefferson and guard Angel Rodriguez connected and combined for 16 of Cangrejeros’ first 21 points. However, a pair of three-pointers by Edmonton’s Jaylen Babb-Harrison and Zach Rollins kept the Stingers in contention. The Puerto Ricans outscored Edmonton 16-2 in the paint in the first quarter, helping them build a 26-16 lead after 10 minutes of play.
In the second frame, Murphy Burnatowski provided a spark for Edmonton including a three-pointer that cut the Cangrejeros lead to six (29-23) forcing a timeout from opposing head coach Elias Ayuso. The six-foot-seven power forward was also impactful on the defensive end, drawing a pair of charges and forcing a steal. Despite this, the Stingers found themselves down 48-30 at half time largely due to Cangrejeros shooting 60 percent (18-30) from the field through two quarters.
The Stingers defence looked sharper to begin the second half, with the Canadians holding Cangrejeros to just 18 third-quarter points. However, the Puerto Ricans pushed back in the final frame, adding 27 points and putting the game out of reach for Edmonton. A bright spot in the loss was the Stingers tallying 10 steals and forcing 20 turnovers.
Edmonton will look to bounce back tomorrow night against Real Estelí of Nicaragua. At the top of the Stingers agenda for tomorrow is playing more physical down low and increasing ball movement.
“We have to play inside-out, we have to drive in and kick it out,” said Posthumus. “When it comes inside I have to dunk the basketball. When we dunk it, this opens up the outside and then we can hit open shots and swing the ball. We can’t just rely on dribble pull-up shots.”
Through three games, Edmonton (1-2) is tied with Real Estelí (1-2) at four points apiece, while Cangrejeros (3-1) sits atop of Group A with seven points. The Stingers will host the third and final window March 14-16 at WinSport Arena in Calgary. At the end of the group stage, the top two clubs in each pool will advance to the single elimination quarterfinals scheduled for April 6. Thus, tomorrow’s game carries significant playoff implications and will ultimately break the tie for second place between Canada and Nicaragua.
In their first matchup back on December 13, the Stingers emerged victorious against Real Estelí with an 84-81 win.
“We had success against them in the first window, obviously there will be a bit more juice in the building tomorrow with fans,” said head coach Victor Raso. “We have to make it difficult on their main guys and we have to be able to win the depth competition. The first time we played them we wore them down a little bit and we shot the ball better.”
“We have to bounce back tomorrow,” said Raso. “We need to get one tomorrow, we can be 2-2 at the end of this second window or we can be in last, so we need to figure it out. Tomorrow is a huge game.”
Tune in to watch the Edmonton Stingers take on Real Estelí in their final match of window two Sunday night at 8 p.m. ET, streaming on CEBL+ and CBC Gem.