Capitanes de Arecibo
Capitanes de Arecibo
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Capitanes de Arecibo

The Capitanes de Arecibo are a Puerto Rican professional basketball team based in Arecibo that competes in the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN) league. In 2010, the team also had the distinction to play in the Premier Basketball League (PBL) under the name Capitanes de Puerto Rico. The team began play in the league in 1946. Home games are held at Manuel Iguina Coliseum, which the team shares with the Capitanes de Arecibo men's volleyball team.

The team has won eight BSN Championships (1959, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2016, 2018 and 2021) and has had a total 17 finals appearances, being a runner-up 9 times (1932, 1946, 1948, 1961, 1966, 1992, 2007, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2017). Capitanes is the only team to participate in all editions of the FIBA Americas League, having entered the final four twice (finishing 2nd in 2010 and 3rd in 2013).

In 1946, coached by Wilfredo Franco, Tingo Díaz, Piro Méndez and for a pre-Olympic tournament, the Capitanes emerged. A group of young athletes, mostly from Arecibo, like: Manuel Gilberto (Petaca) Iguina, Quicón Iguina, Abdiel de la Rosa, Alberto Renta, Joaquín Balaguer, Armando Villamil, y Pipe Beníquez showed themselves to be a part of it and dominated the sport in Puerto Rico, finishing in second place.

On August 19, 1959, the Capitanes won their first basketball championship against the Rio Piedras Cardinals at the Rodríguez Olmo Stadium in Arecibo. They were coached by Lou Rossinni, and the heroes of that series were Jaime Frontera, Francisco Pancho Padilla, Felipito Colón, Bill MacCadney, José (Fufi) Santori Coll, Moisés Navedo, José Rodríguez Gómez, Eddie Martínez, José Vázquez, José Aponte, Angel Morales, Jaime Miranda, Joe Phillip Padilla hijo, Ramón Siraguza, Enrique Miranda, and Sitín García. This team is the only team in BSN history to have gone the entire season, including the playoffs, undefeated.

In 1992, coached by Alfred “Butch” Lee, the Capitanes returned to the BSN Finals with elite players Ferdinand Morales, Rafael Hernandez, Giovanni Colón, Fitz Roy Brow, Juan Griles, Orlando Febres, Bryan and Mark Santiago, losing a hard-fought series against the Ponce Lions.

The Capitanes in 2002 wrote another page in the history of their city and the BSN when the so-called "kids" broke the predictions of the media and basketball analysts by taking a semi-final series to Game 7 with young talents Giovanni Jiménez, Rick Apodaca, Buster Figueroa, Pachy Cruz and David Cortes; and veterans Félix Javier Perez, Javier Rolón and Oscar Chiaramello.

In 2005, general manager Regino Babilonia hired Carlos Mario Rivera as head coach and the Captains again won the BSN Championship (4-0) over the Bayamón Cowboys.

In 2007, with David Rosario at the command of the Captain Ship, and the fiery players Rafael “Pachy” Cruz, Ángel “Buster” Figueroa, David Cortes, Carlos Payano and Marcus Fizer as reinforcement, the Capitanes returned to the BSN Finals. In a historic, sold-out Game 7 at the Jose Miguel Agrelot Coliseum, where 75% of the attendees were from Captain Correa City, the Arecibo Captains came back from a 20-point fourth-quarter deficit to force an overtime. In a hard-fought and emotional series of plays and calls, the Captains came up just short of another championship.

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