PAYSANDÚ (Uruguay) – The defending champion of the Basketball Champions League Americas, Flamengo (BRA), bounced back in its second appearance in Group B of the young season and won a highly contested match against Obras (ARG), 84-80, at the Estadio 8 de Junio in Paysandú, Uruguay. “Mengao” had lost in their debut against Nacional (URU) and needed to respond to avoid being in a compromising position and that is precisely what they did.
turning point
Flamengo, with a free throw from Álex Negrete with 15 seconds remaining, distanced themselves 81-78. Then, Pedro Barral missed a triple attempt for Obras in search of the tie and on the other side Gui Deodato was able to define the victory for the Brazilians with a success behind the arc that made things 84-78 with just four seconds on the clock.
Player of the match
Negrete was the figure of the winners with 19 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds and 1 steal. Shaquille Johnson followed with 14 points and 3 triples, while Markeith Cummings added 11 points.
Alex Negrete
For Obras, Tyler Sabin led the offense with 20 points and 5 rebounds. Federico Zezular finished with 10, as did point guard Nicolás Brussino, who also gave 7 assists. Barral also distributed 7 passes for touchdowns. With his 7 assists, Brussino reached 204 in BCL Americas and became the leader in the history of the competition, surpassing fellow Argentine Franco Balbi. Brussino, a two-time champion with Quimsa (ARG), is also the only player to participate in all seven editions of the competition and is the player with the most caps with 51.
Juan Brussino
Statistics don’t lie
Obras shot 50 percent (32-64) and dominated the points in the paint 40-32, but his 12 losses came at a high cost. Flamengo dominated the points 17-6 after those opposing errors. Flamengo reached 47 wins in BCL Americas and continued to expand its lead in that department. SESI Franca and Quimsa second it with 31 each. The Rio de Janeiro team’s 33 rebounds are their second-lowest amount in BCL Americas.
To stand out
With its success on Sunday, Flamengo left a 1-1 record in Group B, while Obras (0-1) will return to action this Monday against host Nacional (1-0), starting at 7:10 p.m. local time.
FIBA
