Tijuana Zonkeys Get Swept in Mazatlan, Fall to 4-6 Record In Second Half
Credit: CIBACOPA
Mazatlan, Mexico
The Tijuana Zonkeys finished up a two-game series against Nauticos de Mazatlan at the Centro de Usos Multiples in Mazatlan, Sinaloa this Wednesday.
Los Burro-Zebras were due for a tough task as Nauticos were the best team in the second half of the CIBACOPA Mexican basketball season with a 6-2 record heading into this two-game set.
The port city team was able to improve this mark as they swept the border city side to improve to an 8-2 mark on the season. The Zonkeys had been struggling and fell to a 4-6 mark, now the third worst team in the second half of the CIBACOPA season.
The first game of the series ended 88-86 in Mazatlan’s favor as Tijuana was very ineffective going forward. James Penny’s side ended the game with an 8-for-31 mark from range, and the top scorer on the day for the border city side was Karim Rodriguez with 19 points.
Mazatlan’s Carl Hall was able to do the damage, with 20 points and 13 rebounds, and Jeffrey Ledbetter was not far behind with 19 points and six assists. The second game of the series on Wednesday night proved to be a very similar encounter between the two CIBACOPA teams.
Nauticos de Mazatlan used their home-field advantage and came away with a 89-82 win against Los Burro-Zebras in front of the home crowd. Carl Hall was the standout again with 25 points this time, and Jeffrey Ledbetter had another solid performance with 21 points of his own.
For the Zonkeys, team captain Trayvon Lathan was the star player of the night with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Stephen Soriano netted himself 15 points while San Diego native Karim Rodriguez had just seven points and Chula Vista native Carlos Perez had 12 points.
The accuracy from range was a huge problem again and was even more of a nuisance in this encounter as the Zonkeys were 5-for-29 from the three-point range.
James Penny’s team will continue their current road trip with two games against Navolato before returning home to face Caballeros de Culiacan.
Francisco, 26, Chula Vista/Tijuana. I have been a Padres fan all my life, did most of the series previews and recaps in the Padres’ 2016 season for EVT. Now I focus more on the local soccer scene. Tijuana Xolos, San Diego Loyal, San Diego Wave.