In another great performance this Saturday, Franca beat Obras of Argentina 104-87 in Concepción, Chile to close the first Group D window of the 2022-2023 edition with 100% success. the Basketball Champions League Americas (BCL Americas).

This time, the highlight of the São Paulo team was winger Georginho, who finished with 24 points, nine rebounds and six assists – in the triumph Friday against Universidad de Concepciónowner of the house, he had achieved a double-double (17 points and 15 rebounds) at the Casa del Deporte gymnasium.

Both teams arrived for the duel with excellent marks: while the Brazilians defended a mark of 13 games without defeat (12 wins for the NBB and yesterday’s for the BCLA), the Argentines arrived with 10 games without lose – they share the local league lead with Comodoro Rivadavia’s Gimnasia, with a 12-3 campaign.

The match started with the dominance of Franca, who managed to end the first quarter winning by 25 to 17. However, the Argentine team had players coming from the bench to react and go to the break in front of the scoreboard. edge, with 53 to 52.

In the initial two periods, the Brazilians shot 51% (19 baskets converted in 37 attempts) against an impressive 58% of the rivals (19 made in 33 attempts), including ten successful attempts of three in 13 occasions.

But Franca changed her posture in the third quarter, further healing the defense and maintaining the attacking rhythm. Coach Helinho’s men chained 12 points to 2, leaving the score at 64-55 in the first three and a half minutes of the stage – and 80-70 at the end of the period.

In the decisive quarter, Obras did not relax and was only five points behind (84 to 79) with a basket from Pedro Barral, but the fright served the São Paulo team to regain control Actions: After center forward Marcio came on, Franca went on a 16–0 run, opening 100–79 with just under two and a half minutes and settling the bill.

For the Brazilian team, center forward Lucas Dias finished with a double-double, with 18 points and 12 rebounds, and Marcio, with 17 and 11, respectively. American veteran David Jackson contributed another 16 to Franca’s attack, along with Argentina’s Scala, with 13, and Lucas Mariano, with 11. In total, there were six players with double-digit scores.

Another important factor for São Paulo players was their mastery of rebounds. They scored 45 (13 offensive) to just 27 (three offensive) of the rivals, generating a total of 15 second-chance points from just three.

For Obras, Peruvian point guard Juan Pablo Venegas came off the bench to be the offensive highlight, with 20 points and five assists. Close behind appeared the Uruguayans Joaquín Rodríguez and Emiliano Serres, with 17 and 13 goals respectively. In total, the reserves of coach Gregorio Martínez’s team scored 42 points in Saturday’s duel.

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With the second triumph, Franca reaches four points and closes the first window as leader. The team now turns its attention to the pursuit of the second NBB Championship – the current champion leads the table undefeated, with 12 wins.

On the other hand, Obras and Universidad de Concepción appear with one point each. The two teams face off on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. in Brasilia, also at the Casa del Deporte gymnasium, to see who will finish in second place.

The other BCLA game this Saturday was for Group A, the only one without Brazilians: at the José Maria Arteaga gymnasium, in the Mexican city of Querétaro, Real Estelí, from Nicaragua, beat the Canadian Honey Badgers by 94 to 82 .

The Canadian team played their second duel in the group – yesterday they were beaten by the house owners Libertadores, 99-83. As for the Nicaraguans, finalists of the 2021 edition of the BCLA (they lost to at Flamengo), it was the first match of the tournament of that season.

The Libertadores and Real Estelí face off on Sunday to see who emerges first from Group A. The Mexicans are counting on the support of their fans to make it happen.

Learn more about Basketball Champions League Americas.

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