Santiago de Cuba maintained the lead in the 2023 Men's Superior Basketball League with an 80-76 victory over Sancti Spíritus.

Havana, March 9 (RHC)-- Santiago de Cuba maintained the lead in the 2023 Men's Superior Basketball League with an 80-76 victory over Sancti Spíritus.

The indomitable Esteban Martínez and Ibrahim Hechevarría, with 16 points each, accompanied Yoanni Soria, leader in the offensive section with 17. For the Halcones, Eddy Nelson Hechevarría also stood out with a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Adrián Valdés also had double digits in scoring (13) and catches under the boards (12) for the Warriors.

Capitalinos beat Ciego de Avila again (77-52) and maintained the second place in the standings which they now occupy alone with 10-2.

Villa Clara (9-3) dropped to third place after losing to Mayabeque 87-68.

The Mayabeque team moved up to fourth place in the standings with six wins and the same number of losses after the Buffaloes' result, who now have a 4-8 record.

With less importance, Artemisa defeated Las Tunas 73-72 in the duel to avoid the last place of the regular stage occupied by the eastern team.

Among the ladies, Santiago de Cuba won its eighth straight victory, this time with a 71-48 win over Capitalinas. With this, they remain undefeated as leaders in the race.

Ciego de Avila is their closest pursuer with 6-2 after comfortably beating Camagüey 81-40.

The Guantanameras did the same with the weak Pinar del Rio and scored 82-43 to preserve the embrace with the Avileñas in the second and third places and identical balance of wins and losses.

Finally, Sancti Spíritus defeated Villa Clara 81-43 and joined the triple tie, now with Avileñas and Havana, in the fourth to sixth places with 4-4.

The day of March 9 will be a rest day for both sexes and the actions will continue on March 10.