Mayagüez Indios pull off a must win victory

With under 48 seconds to go, underdog Mayagüez Indios was holding on to this must win - Image Credit: Latino Sports

CABO ROJO, PR — Yesterday was a special day for fans of the Indios de Mayagüez basketball team who had a “must win” victory over the Vaqueros de Bayamón (owned by retired baseball star Yadier Molina) in the semi-finals of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN), Puerto Rico’s basketball league.

The town of Mayagüez, AKA La Sultana del Oeste is the ninth largest town in the island nation and the largest in the West Coast. It is also known as a sports rich town. Their baseball team, Los Indios won the Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente (LBPRC) championship last season. So having their basketball team make this year’s playoff was a big thing. It gave many loyal Mayagüez sports fans a hope that they could have both, a baseball and basketball championship team.

Unfortunately, that thought was quickly dampened when Los Indios lost their first three of a seven game series to the Vaqueros. The thought of Los Indios moving on to the finals and possibly winning the championship was all but erased from the minds of the demanding Mayagüez fan base. That was evident as yesterday’s fourth game at home was not near what should have been a sellout crowd.

My wife was born in Mayagüez, and our home is in neighboring Cabo Rojo, therefore Los Indios is our new adopted team. Our New York home is walking distance from Yankee stadium and a train ride from Citi-Field, so both of us are into supporting our local teams. Thus, we decided that we needed to go to Mayagüez and support Los Indios in what could have been their final game.

Buying tickets to attend is just as easy as buying tickets online for any venue in the states. The only tickets available were General Admission seats. Each ticket for this semi-final game was much less than a ticket to see a movie in New York. However, general seats in the Coliseo Rubén Rodríguez arena are all good and with no obstruction and quite close to the action. It’s not like the upper deck general admission seats in Madison Square Garden  where you might need binoculars to see a players face.

When we entered the arena, the game had already started and to our surprise the Indios were ahead 17 – 6. Things looked good and that’s the way it continued to the final second. Mayagüez knowing that their backs were against the wall, played a very aggressive game their key scoring and strong defense defied the odds and won 81 – 68.

We sat next to two ladies, Leslie a Physical Education teacher in Orlando and her mother who were back in their homeland vacationing. This was Leslie’s first basketball game as she had left a little over a decade ago. This was our second game this season. The two ladies were from the same barrio that my wife Blanca (who left Mayagüez when she was six years old) is from, El Mani and El Seco.

The game bonded a new friendship as Leslie will be returning to her hometown when she retires. “I’m only in Orlando because of a job,” she told us. That is an island wide reality as the job market in Puerto Rico is bad forcing many to leave only to return when they retire. The fact is retirees with pensions, and or, social security can live a bit more comfortable than most.  We confessed that we were doing the opposite planning to leave New York and settle permanently in Cabo Rojo and our adopted second home, Mayagüez. We all agreed that we brought the good vibes that helped Los Indios win.  We also agreed that meeting new friends in a basketball game is a winning formula no matter what team wins.

The top scorers for Los Indios were Malachi Richardson 24 points and 11 rebounds, while Georgie Pacheco added 16 & Jorge Matos 11.

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