Brazilians stay undefeated as Flamengo, Sao Paulo win again

MIAMI (United States) - Sunday's action at Basketball Champions League Americas 2021-22 featured the defending champions notching another comfortable win and another Brazilian squad showing they're a viable aspirant to the throne.

After defeating Boca Juniors on Friday, Flamengo handled Universidad de Concepcion in Rio de Janeiro to remain undefeated. Later in the evening, Sao Paulo handled Quimsa on the road to also improve to 2-0.

FLAMENGO 85 – 68 UNIVERSIDAD DE CONCEPCION

Gustavo Conti's squad jumped to a 19-4 lead in the first quarter and shrewdly administered it throughout the rest of the afternoon at the Maracanazinho.

With a balanced attack that included four different players scoring in double figures, Flamengo once again confirmed why they're still the team to beat in the competition.

Tulio Da Silva notched a game-high 14 points and 6 boards in under minutes of action to pace the Brazilians.

 

Reserves Franco Balbi (11 points and 5 assists) and Dar Tucker (10 points on 2/4 from long distance) also shined as the bench provided a 39-point spark.

Universidad de Concepción found their offense late with 30 fourth-quarter points, but the effort proved to be too little too late.

Donovan Marshall (14 points) and Iranian big man Aaron Geramipoor (10 points, 5 rebounds and a pair of steals) were the only ones to score in double digits.

 

Flamengo is now atop Group D with a 2-0 record while UDEC remains winless at 0-2 at the end of the first window.

Both of those teams will head to Argentina in late January where Boca Juniors will host the next set of games.

 

QUIMSA 74 – 83 SAO PAULO

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Marquinhos may not be donning Flamengo's red and black anymore, but the Brazilian legend is still dominating – at the tender age of 37 years old.

The sharpshooter went 6/9 from downtown Sunday night, leading Sao Paulo to a convincing victory, 83-74, over Quimsa at Estadio Ciudad in Santiago del Estero, Argentina.

 

Sao Paulo's firepower was again on full display, as Marquinhos' 24 points happened in concert with excellent performances from Elinho Neto and Bruno Caboclo.

With Neto setting up the offense (13 assists), Caboclo put on a show.

 

The former Raptor and Rocket, among others, went off for 18 points and 12 boards. Only this time he just notched one block after swatting 8 of Nacional's attempts on Saturday.

Quimsa was able to bring the deficit to single digits at the end of the first half and again in the final minutes of the contest, but they just couldn't overcome the Brazilian's hot outside shooting.

Eric Anderson Jr. led the way for the Argentinians with a massive double-double (17 points and 14 rebounds), while Terrence Roderick also contributed 13 points and 11 boards.

 

In the end, a game where both teams took care of the ball (just 9 turnovers apiece) was decided by Sao Paulo holding Quimsa to 37.1 percent from the field.

The Brazilians finish this first window with a 2-0 record while Quimsa split their games. These teams will meet again in early February as Group B resumes its action in Montevideo, Uruguay.

 

FIBA