By The Star Staff
The Carolina Giants defeated the Quebradillas Pirates 103-91 to open the quarterfinals of the National Superior Basketball (BSN by its initials in Spanish) on Saturday night at Guillermo Angulo Coliseum in Carolina.
Brandon Goodwin had 22 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds for Carolina, which used an 11-1 run in the second quarter to take control.
With the score tied at 30, Alexander Franklin opened the run with a floater, drawing a foul and completing the three-point play.
JJ Romer hit a long-distance bomb that extended the score 36-31, and the Giants made it 41-31 on a 3-pointer from Goodwin and two free throws by Jonny O’Bryant.
The Pirates’ only point was a free throw by Phillip Wheeler after he was fouled by Romer.
Scottie James led Carolina with 20 points and nine rebounds, and Franklin finished the night with 16 points. In his debut, AJ Slaughter had 10 points and four assists in the second half, while O’Bryant finished with 16 points and seven rebounds.
In a losing cause, Tai Odiase led the Quebradillas offense with 20 points and seven rebounds, followed by 17 points from Wheeler and 12 from Emmanuel Mudiay, who also had nine rebounds and five assists.
In the other quarterfinal opener, the Aguada Santeros beat the Caguas Criollos 92-89, led by native forward Jase Febres (22 points, 9-of-12 from the field, seven rebounds) and reinforcement John Meeks (21 points, 9-of-12 from the field, 12 rebounds).
From the beginning at Roger Mendoza Coliseum, host Aguada appeared poised for an upset on the road, scoring seven straight points to go up 32-24 at the start of the second quarter. But Caguas, led by Travis Trice (10 points in the second period, 18 in total with 10 assists) won the rest of the quarter, outscoring Aguada by nine points to take a 47-46 halftime lead. However, Aguada turned the tables in the third, outscoring Caguas by nine to lead 69-61.
Caguas continued to battle, with a basket by Louis King (15 points) that made it a two-point game with 46 seconds left in the game and a triple by Akil Mitchell (17 points, 8-12 from the field, nine rebounds) that put them down one with 13 seconds on the clock. Aguada, however, made free throws go up by three, and although Febres missed his second attempt from the charity stripe, the Criollos could not secure the rebound to have a chance to tie.
On Friday night, the Ponce Lions defeated the Santurce Crabbers 85-82 at Juan PachÃn Vicens Auditorium in Ponce to secure a spot in the BSN playoffs.
Santurce led 66-62 to start the fourth quarter, but Ponce turned the tables, outscoring the Crabbers 23-16 en route to the win.
Jezreel de Jesús led the way for the Lions with 25 points, 3 rebounds and 5 assists, followed by Jared Ruiz with 20 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists. Jordan Murphy and Christian Negrón had 10 points each.
Jared Sullinger finished his season with another double double, 30 points and 10 rebounds, for Santurce. William Barton scored 18 points with 5 rebounds and 4 assists.
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