VENEZUELA — Tiger basketball alum Nestor Colmenares continues to impress on the international stage for his Liga Professional de Baloncesto (LPB) team, the Guaros De Lara, recently winning the LPB Championship on July 5.
Colmenares, 28, and the Guaros recently won a best-of-seven series against Marinos for their first title in the history of the program that dates back to 1981. Guaros finished runner-up in 2005, 2006 and 2015. They also won their first regular season Western Conference Championship last season.
This is the second LPB title for Colmenares as he played for the Cocodrilos de Caracas in 2013, winning the regular season title.
Joining forces with former NBA All-Star and Slam Dunk Competition winner Nate Robinson, the duo led the Guaros to a regular season record of 24-12 and were second in the Western Conference behind Cocodrilos (25-11).
Robinson led the team by averaging 16 points per game in 35 contests, while Colmenares played in 50 games and scored at a 10.3 clip and was third on the team by averaging 5.5 rebounds per game.
Also, Lazar Hayward, a former 2010 NBA First-Round selection by the Washington Wizards, averaged just below 14 points per game and was second on the team by grabbing six rebounds. He played in the 2012 NBA Finals with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
In the postseason tournament, the Guaros went 12-3 record with their only other losses besides coming in the quarterfinal round vs. Trotamundos and two losses in the finals.
This isn't the first championship for Colmenares on the international stage. He was a member of the Venezuelan FIBA Americas League Championship team that defeated the Argentinian team, Bakia Basket, in the finals for the second-straight season back in March.
The 2017 FIBA Americas League was the 10th edition of the top continental professional club basketball competition in the Americas. Sixteen teams from across the Americas competed over three rounds, to determine the champion.
With the senior men's Venezuelan national basketball team, Colmenares has played at the following tournaments: the 2011 FIBA Americas Championship, the 2013 FIBA Americas Championship, the 2014 South American Championship, where he won a gold medal, the 2015 Pan American Games, the 2015 FIBA Americas Championship, where he won a gold medal, the 2016 South American Championship, where he won a gold medal, and the 2016 Summer Olympic Games
Colmenares is only the third-known Campbellsville University alum to qualify and play in the Olympics and second from the country of Venezuela. The late Doris Wefwafwa played volleyball for the Kenyan National Team in the 2000 Summer Olympics. Also, Mickey Lilinthal swam for Venezuela in the 400 free relay in the 1996 Summer Olympics. In addition to the three Olympic qualifiers, former Tiger swimmer Brendan Ward made the Zimbabwe Olympic trials but was unable to qualify for the Olympics.
The 6-foot-8 forward played for the Tigers for two years – 2007-08 and 2009-10. During his time at CU, Nestor was a two-time NAIA All-American helping lead the Tigers to their first NAIA Fab Four in 2008.
After his All-American campaign, Colmenares sat out in 2008-09, but returned where he left off in 2009-10, leading Campbellsville in scoring, rebounding and blocks through the season. He finished the year with 15.6 points per game, 9.9 rebounds per game and 32 blocks en route to being named the Mid-South Conference Player of the Year and First Team All-American for the Sporting News, Basketball Times and the NAIA.
Colmenares concluded his two-year career at Campbellsville with 1,095 career points, good for No. 25 on the Tigers' all-time scoring list, which is mainly compiled of three or four-year players.
Alongside this last championship, Colmenares has multiple awards: Venezuela LPB Champion 2013 (Cocodrilos de Caracas), back-to-back FIBA South American Champion 2014 & 2016 (Venezuela NT), Rio 2016 Qualifying FIBA Tournament of Americas Gold Medal 2015 (Venezuela NT) and the FIBA Intercontinental Cup 2017 (Guaros de Lara), and finally this back-to-back FIBA League of Americas Championship 2016 & 2017.
