The first of the three rounds of the first phase of the Champions League of the Americas, the “Libertadores” of men’s basketball, ended for Minas Tênis Clube and Sesi Franca last Friday (13). The team from Belo Horizonte remains undefeated after two matches, while the team from the interior of São Paulo recovered after debuting with defeat.
The opening window of Group C, Minas, was based at Estadio 8 de Junio, in Paysandú, Uruguay. After defeating Boca Juniors, from Argentina, 80-61 on Thursday (11), the Minastenistas beat Aguada, the home team, 77-74. North American power forward Erik McCree, with 19 points and seven rebounds, was the highlight of Friday’s triumph.
Minas has four points (two wins, each worth two points) and leads Group C. Boca, who also beat Aguada, is second, with three points (one win and one defeat, which gives one point). The Uruguayans are at the bottom, with two points.
The next round of the bracket will be in Buenos Aires, the Argentine capital, between January 14th and 16th. The venue for the third and final window will be the UniBH Arena, home of Minas, from February 4th to 6th. The top two from each of the four groups will advance to the quarterfinals, scheduled to take place in March.
Sesi Franca, in turn, needed to beat Universidad de Concepción, from Chile, host of the first round of Group D, to recover from Thursday’s defeat to Instituto, from Argentina, by 93 to 89. The Brazilians won 85-79 at Casa del Deporte, in Concepción, with 20 points and seven rebounds from winger Lucas Dias, the French protagonist in the match.
The São Paulo team is in second place in Group D, with three points, one less than the Institute and one more than the Universidad de Concepción. The current four-time champions of Novo Basquete Brasil (NBB) return to the court for the Champions League on January 14th and 16th, at home, at Ginásio Pedrocão, in Franca (SP). The third and final round of the bracket will be led by the Institute, in Córdoba, Argentina, between February 7th and 9th.
This Saturday (14), it will be Flamengo’s turn to take to the court. Rubro-Negro, current champion and third Brazilian representative in the Champions League, debuts against Nacional, from Uruguay, in Paysandú, at 9:10 pm (Brasília time). On Sunday (15), the opponent will be Obras Sanitarias, from Argentina, at the same place and time.
