Caguas tops Manatí in double OT to force a 7th game

Travis Trice scored 32 points for Caguas, including a 3-pointer to send the game into overtime.

By The Star Staff

The Caguas Criollos defeated the Manatí Bears in double overtime, 122-121, on Tuesday night in Manatí, forcing a seventh game to determine the National Superior Basketball Championship.

Game 7 will tip off at 8 p.m. Friday in Caguas.

After a contested 3-pointer by Travis Trice culminated a Criollos rally late in the 4th quarter, knotting the score at 91 and sending the game into overtime, Caguas opened the first extra session by taking their first lead since the middle of the third quarter with a dunk by Onzie Branch (15 points, seven rebounds) on the first basket of overtime. After Trice and Norris Cole (who finished with 35 points and seven assists on 13-23 from the field) traded baskets from outside on three straight possessions, the Criollos were up by three points with less than two minutes left until a three-pointer from the corner by Alex Morales tied the score at 104 with 42.1 seconds left. That led to the Bears (Osos) having the ball again with the shot clock running out, with a chance to win without giving the Criollos any time to execute, but Ethan Thompson couldn’t score. Another overtime.

Despite the wasted opportunities, Manatí started up by four points in the first minute and a half, but a basket by Akil Mitchell (25 points, 14 rebounds, 9-for-14 from the field) tied it again. In the next two minutes there were five lead changes, and it was the Bears who had a three-point lead with 24 seconds left. This time, they wouldn’t fail to foul Trice to prevent a tying 3-pointer, and they were rewarded when he missed his first attempt from the line. However, Jihvvan Jackson missed his first free-throw attempt for Manatí, and Trice then scored two to pull Caguas to within a point, 121-120. Thompson’s night of offensive struggles would culminate with him missing both of his free throws, and Mitchell then scored two at the other end to put the Criollos ahead 122-121 (after he had missed two free throws in the same situation with 28 seconds left).

One defensive stop against Jackson later, and Caguas did the seemingly improbable … again.

The Criollos started the game with intense defense that put them up 17-7 in the first seven minutes of play. They held Manatí to only 30% shooting from the field, and Louis King (23 points, 12 rebounds, 7-for-10 from inside the arc) led the offense with six points. However, a 15-6 run led by Cole (13 points, including 11 in a row, with three three-pointers and one assist during the run) put the Bears back to within a point at the end of the first quarter.

Cole entered Tuesday’s game shooting 4-for-18 from beyond the arc in the series, but improved those percentages by connecting on nine 3-pointers.

The comeback was completed with a triple by Jackson (32 points, 10-for-18 from the field, 6-for-9 on 3-pointers, 6-of-9 on free throws). The Bears extended the lead to 38-29, but the Criollos finished the first half with a 12-3 run to tie it at 41.

But, once again, Manatí’s triples (they made 19 in the game) would be the story to help them take off in the second half: a deep one by Cole with 17 seconds left in the third quarter made it 65-58, and three by Jackson in the fourth -- the second was an ‘and-one’ -- put them ahead 76-65.

Caguas’ turnovers, 20 in the game (14 between King and Mitchell), led to 23 points by Manatí, and the depth of the host team seemed to be too much. The party began with two minutes left.

Except now the triple helped the Criollos get back into the game. One by Trice (32 points, six assists, 7-for-13 from the field) under defensive pressure and one in transition by Christian López (11 points, 4-for-4 from the field) made it a one-point game with 41 seconds left. Thompson (10 points, 3-for-17 from the field) would ease the tension for Manatí coming out of the Bears’ timeout by scoring from mid-range, but it was Trice who again worked his magic in the clutch, escaping the Bears’ defense to score a 3-pointer to tie it at 91 and send the game to overtime after Jackson couldn’t score what would have been the winning basket on Manatí’s previous possession.