As expected, the final series between the Mauricio Baez and Rafael Barias clubs started off with a shock and awe, between two well-known archrivals.
The Mauricio club gave the first blow to Barias by defeating them in double overtime this Tuesday, 99-95, in the clash that marked the beginning of an expected final for the fans of both neighborhoods, Villa Juana and Villa Consuelo, in the 47th Superior Basketball Tournament of the National District (TBS District 2023), at the Palacio de los Deportes Virgilio Travieso Soto.
In this first finalist game, Juan Miguel Suero, Richard Bautista and the debutant reinforcement Luismal Ferreiras stood out in the Mauricio’s offense with 19 points each.
Suero (added five assists) and Ferreiras completed a double-double by grabbing 12 and 16 rebounds, respectively, while Bautista distributed eight balls to his teammates, including Gerardo Suero with 12 points and the North American reinforcement Emmit Williams scored 12 units and took eight balls in the painted area.
For Barias, Bryan Ramirez scored 29 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, the imported Brande Dawson had double figures of 17 points with 10 catches, Eusebio Suero had 12 points plus nine rebounds and Yeison Rivera had 10 points and seven assists.
A game that many expected would favor Mauricio from the start and until the first half of the game, as they won the first period by 19 points, 28-9, but closed in the second, 26-25, to dominate by 20 going into the halftime break.
The third period favored the Barianos by eight points, 23-15, and they got closer by 12 points at the end, 69-57, and then the last quarter 24-12, to provoke the first overtime, 81-81, with a basket by Eusebio Suero with 4:4 seconds left, due to a defensive oversight by Mauricio.
The first overtime period was 90-90, which was tied by Juan Miguel Suero with a free throw with just 21:3 seconds left on the clock, with a Barias possession that they did not take advantage of and missed the play that could have given them the victory in a throw by Roberto Tamárez.
The second overtime, was defined by the Mauritians 9-5 (99-95), with Richard Bautista (Manito) standing out with four points, a basket of two and two free throws, Suero two free throws and Emmit Williams a triple, which was opening the last period and putting the board 93-90.
This is the fourth time that Mauricio and Barias have met in a final in the last seven years, with the VillaCon squad coming out on top twice, and the Villa Juana squad once.
In 2017 Barias was proclaimed champion in a final against Mauricio that they won in six games, 4-2; Mauricio took it back in 2018 with a 4-0 sweep; and in 2019 they met again in the same instances and the Barias were the ones who celebrated in five games, 4-1.
Mauritius has won eight titles in its history: from 1984 to 86, 1999, 2000, 2016, 2018 and 2021, and Barias four, the year of its debut in the TBS District in 2009, 2013, 2017 and 2019.
The TBS District 2023 is organized by the National District Basketball Association (Abadina), chaired by Diego Pesqueira, an Organizing Committee headed by Minister of the Presidency Joel Santos, dedicated to Social Inclusion and by the BanReservas Cup.
Wednesday’s game
The second game of the final series of the TBS District 2023, which is agreed to the best of 7-4, will be held this Wednesday starting at 8:00 pm.
On Friday will be the third, at the same time, and on Sunday the fourth at 6:00 pm.
Juan Miguel Suero, of the Mauricio Báez, tries to score over the defense of Roberto Tamárez, of the Rafael Barias club.
Luismal Ferreiras, of Mauricio Báez, throws over Juan Bautista Araújo, defender of Rafael Barias club.
Richard Bautista, from Mauricio Baez, puts all his energy to score against the defense of Will Davis, from Rafael Barias club.
Source: Noticiassin.com
