Dorados beat Fuerza Regia 120-116 in overtime to stay alive as Astros and Soles sweep into the LNBP zone finals

Two of the four zone semifinals are over. Astros de Jalisco and Soles de Mexicali both finished 3-0 sweeps on Thursday night, and both are in the zone finals. The other two series go to Game 4 on Friday: Fuerza Regia lead Dorados de Chihuahua 2-1, and Panteras de Aguascalientes lead Lobos Puebla 2-1.

Dorados kept their season going with a 120-116 overtime win at the Gimnasio Manuel Bernardo Aguirre. The lead changed hands 34 times.

Where the series stand

Soles (1) 3, Abejas (8) 0. Soles won 102-58, 100-60 and, on Thursday, 92-70 at the Domo de la Feria in León. They meet the winner of Panteras and Lobos in the zone final.

Astros 3, Mineros 0. Astros won 100-78, 86-83 and 81-72 in Zacatecas. They meet the winner of Fuerza Regia and Dorados.

Fuerza Regia 2, Dorados 1. The defending champions won 101-90 and 80-76 in Monterrey before Thursday's loss.

Panteras 2, Lobos 1. Lobos won Game 1 111-100 in Aguascalientes. Panteras won Game 2 88-80 and Game 3 93-84 at the Arena BUAP in Puebla.

Thornwell's three in Chihuahua

Fuerza Regia led 58-54 at halftime and 83-78 after three quarters, and they led by 10 at their best. Dorados never led by more than five.

The fourth quarter came down to free throws. Chasson Randle made two with 48 seconds left to tie it at 101. Tjader Fernández answered with two for a 103-101 Fuerza Regia lead with 23 seconds left. Randle tied it again with a layup with eight seconds to go, and the game went to overtime at 103-103.

Dorados scored the first four points of overtime, on a tip-in by Alfonzo McKinnie and a layup by Markeith Cummings. Fuerza Regia kept coming back. Alphonso Anderson hit a three with 29 seconds left for a 116-115 lead. Ten seconds later, Thornwell hit a three for Dorados, 118-116.

Fernández missed a layup at the other end. Austin Trice missed two free throws with seven seconds left, but Thornwell grabbed the rebound, was fouled, and made both for the final margin.

Thornwell finished with 24 points and made five of seven threes. Randle scored 23. Fernández led Fuerza Regia with 28 points off the bench. He made all eight free throws and all four of his threes. The two teams made 29 threes between them, 15 by Fuerza Regia.

Astros and Soles finish it

In Zacatecas, Astros never trailed. They led 53-36 at halftime and by as many as 19. Mineros won the third quarter 25-11 and cut it to 64-61 going into the fourth, but Astros won the fourth 17-11. Francisco Cruz scored 18 with six assists, and Michale Kyser added 14. Anyelo Cisneros led Mineros with 18.

Soles never trailed in León either. They led 48-31 at halftime, won the third quarter 30-14, and led by as many as 33. Six Soles players scored in double figures, led by Joseph Thomasson Jr. with 15 points and seven assists.

Panteras win in Puebla

Panteras led for 37 of the 40 minutes at the Arena BUAP and by as many as 11. They won all four quarters, the first by a single point, and led 70-63 after three. Shaun Willett scored 20 and Andre Curbelo 17. Eric Washington had 22 for Lobos.

Scoring

Dorados 120-116 Fuerza Regia (Game 3, overtime)

Dorados: Sindarius Thornwell 24, Chasson Randle 23, Austin Trice 17, Alfonzo McKinnie 17, Ardarryl Clay Jr. 15, Mikh McKinney 14, Markeith Cummings 10, Jose Estrada 0, Ricardo Valdez 0, Emmanuel Wembi 0.

Fuerza Regia: Tjader Fernández 28, Wayne Langston 22, Avry Holmes 18, Joseph Avila Jr. 14, Scott Bamforth 10, Daniel Bejarano 9, Alphonso Anderson 7, Fabian Jaimes 6, Jose Martinez 2, Josue Andriassi 0.

By quarter: Dorados 26, 28, 24, 25, 17. Fuerza Regia 28, 30, 25, 20, 13.

Astros 81-72 Mineros (Game 3)

Astros: Francisco Cruz 18, Michale Kyser 14, Rigoberto Mendoza 12, Avery Anderson III 11, Jose Ascanio 9, Tomislav Zubcic 7, Anthony Slaughter Jr. 5, Barret Benson 3, William Yoakum 2.

Mineros: Anyelo Cisneros 18, Tavario Miller 12, Joaquin Valinotti 11, Daishon Smith 9, Romeao Ferguson 8, Kayo Goncalves 6, Wesley Saunders 4, Lucas Doria 2, Bryan Rivera 2, Marcos Ramos 0.

By quarter: Astros 24, 29, 11, 17. Mineros 12, 24, 25, 11.

Soles 92-70 Abejas (Game 3)

Soles: Joseph Thomasson Jr. 15, Jose Contreras 12, Philip Scrubb 11, Jordan Sakho 10, Terrance Campbell Jr. 10, Dragan Apic 10, Erik Thomas 9, Connor Zinaich 8, Kaleb Hunter 5, Jared Perez 2, Brayan Martinez 0, Eduardo Mendoza 0.

Abejas: Jordan Henderson 13, Justin Winston 11, Raul Olea 10, Davonta Gaines 9, Josue Erazo 9, Alahjan Banks 5, Deion McClenton 5, Giovanni Santiago 4, Alberto Castro 2, Hanzel Pinedo 2, Pedro Leal 0.

By quarter: Soles 23, 25, 30, 14. Abejas 13, 18, 16, 23.

Panteras 93-84 Lobos (Game 3)

Panteras: Shaun Willett 20, Andre Curbelo 17, Ahmed Hill 13, Mikyle McIntosh 13, Augusto Lima 12, Jhamir Brickus 7, Tyler Cheese 4, Christian Negron 4, Gabriel Giron 3, Jonatan Machado 0, Jorge De La Serna 0, Axel Fierros 0.

Lobos: Eric Washington 22, Tyran De Lattibeaudiere 10, Rasid Mahalbasic 10, Thomas Scrubb 9, Shaquille Johnson 8, Tekele Cotton 7, Elias King 7, Michael Myers Jr. 5, Ivan Montano 4, Karim Rodriguez 2, Jose Gutierrez 0.

By quarter: Panteras 22, 23, 25, 23. Lobos 21, 20, 22, 21.

What is next

Game 4 of both open series is on Friday, October 23, at 8 p.m.: Dorados host Fuerza Regia again in Chihuahua, and Lobos host Panteras at the Arena BUAP. A Fuerza Regia or Panteras win ends its series. If either series reaches Game 5, it is on Monday, October 26: Fuerza Regia host Dorados at the Arena Mobil in Monterrey at 8:15 p.m., and Panteras host Lobos at the Auditorio Hermanos Carreón in Aguascalientes at 8:30 p.m. The league has not yet listed the zone final dates.

Earlier in the round: Astros came back to beat Mineros 86-83 in Game 2, and Fuerza Regia, Soles and Panteras won their Game 2s.