Artland Dragons hold off Cantu late for road win

In a contest between winless teams, Artland Dragons found its first victory of the season by edging Cantu 77-78 in a thriller on the road in Group B. The visitors took a 45-63 advantage in the third quarter, but Cantu was back within 75-76 with three minutes left, however it never took the lead. Anthony King was the main contributor for the winners with 22 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assist, amassing a performance index rating of 32. Antonio Graves added 13 and Brandon Thomas 10 for Dragons. Cantu got 15 points from Damian Hollis, 14 and 8 rebounds from Ivan Buva, and 10 apiece from Cheikh Mbodj and Stefano Gentile.

After a balanced start with the score tied three times, King capped a 9-0 run for the visitors by scoring a layup for a 10-19 margin, Hollis from downtown and Eric Williams using his power in the paint carried Cantu within 18-21. Five points in arrow nailed by Andreas Seiferth pushed the guests to 18-26 before Darius Johnson-Odom from the foul line made it 22-26 by the first quarter buzzer. The Dragons went on an amazing 2-18 run highlighted by 7 points from King, but Cantu did not give up and in the final 90 seconds pushed by Cheikh Mbodj came back within single digits, 35-44 at halftime.

King remained an enigma for the local defense by bagging 9 points in the first five minutes of the third quarter to gain a 43-60 difference that David Holston extended to 45-63 from downtown. The home team tried to stay on track and Awudu Abass’s jumper with seconds left at the buzzer made it 54-67. Three free throws drilled by Gentile pushed Cantu to within 65-69 with six minutes left, while Abass from long distance made it a one-point game. Graves and Johnson-Odom exchanged jumpers for 77-78 with 32 seconds left. Horner missed a triple for the guests, but Cantu was unable to shoot for the victory.