Sims leads Biguá past Obras; Sao Paulo stays unbeaten behind Caboclo

 MONTEVIDEO (Uruguay) – Monday saw action in Uruguay from Groups B and C of the 2021-22 edition of Basketball Champions League Americas and there is plenty to analyze from the double-header:

BIGUA 92-81 OBRAS

Montevideo, Uruguay can now be called Sims City.

Behind a dominant performance from Donald Sims, Biguá defeated Obras Sanitarias, 92-81, Monday night at Antel Arena.

Sims led the way with 26 points and 9 assists as the Uruguayans improved to 2-1 in Group C play.

 

“It’s great to win in front of the home crowd,” Sims said. “We played great. We started really good and then they came back in the game. Obras is a really strong team, I respect them a lot. They play hard. We had a great third quarter.”

Sims did damage from long distance, finishing 4/11 from beyond the arc.

 

Biguá shot 11/27 (40.7 percent) from downtown with Diego Pena (3/4) providing a spark off the bench.

Obras erased an early double-digit deficit to take the lead at halftime, 41-40 behind a balanced attack led by guards Juan Pablo Venegas and Joaquín Rodríguez.

Venegas finished with 13 points and 5 assists while Rodríguez led the team with 20 on 4/12 shooting from long range.

 

However, Biguá came back from the locker room with a vengeance, uncorking a 29-14 third quarter to take full control of the game.

The attention drawn by Sims allowed the team’s other weapons to flourish.

Victor Rudd flirted with a triple-double (7 points, 14 rebounds and 8 assists), while Martín Rojas poured in 17. Luis Santos added 16 points and 11 boards.

 

Obras took care of the ball (just 7 turnovers) but failed to capitalize at the line, where they missed 9 of their 19 free throw attemps.

Pedro Barral had 20 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists as the Argentinians’ comeback efforts fell short in the fourth quarter.

 

With the loss, Obras is now 0-3 and will try to notch their first win when they face Minas on Tuesday.

Biguá awaits the Brazilians on Wednesday, when they’ll try to avenge a 22-point drubbing in mid-December.

“They really got us good at their place,” Sims said.

 

NACIONAL 73-89 SAO PAULO

Bruno Caboclo is an absolute cheat code.

The 26-year-old forward dominated Nacional on both ends of the floor as Sao Paulo cruised to an 89-73 win over Nacional Monday night at Antel Arena in Montevideo.

Dunks, threes and everything in between, there was no stopping the Brazilian superstar, who finished with 30 points and 9 rebounds on 12/15 shooting, including a sizzling 6/7 from beyond the arc.

 

“Today my ball went in from the 3-point line, so I was very happy about that,” Caboclo said.

And the domination wasn’t just limited to the offensive end of the court, either.

Caboclo shut down his own paint with 7 blocks and was instrumental in keeping the home team to just 38.8 percent from the field.

 

As per usual, he had plenty of help, mainly in the form of the legendary Marquinhos Sousa.

The Brazilian sharpshooter finished with 18 points on 3/9 from long range and showed that even at the tender age of 37 he can still get up:

 

Americans Tyrone Curnell (14 points and 6 rebounds), Shamell Stallworth (15 points) and Corderro Bennett (8 assists) put the finishing touches on a masterful performance.

However, the game seemed to be heading the opposite way when Nacional jumped to an 11-2 lead to start the game behind some hot shooting from downtown.

 

Despite an off night from Quincy Miller, Nacional got decent contributions from both Johndre Jefferson and Dominique Morrison.

 

With the Uruguayan crowd behind him, Morrison poured in 16 points and 7 rebounds.

Manuel Schiaffarino finished 11 points and 4 assists while Jefferson added 13 and 6 boards.

 

Sao Paulo stayed undefeated and is now 3-0 atop Group B. They will face Quimsa on Tuesday night.

Nacional (0-3) remains winless and will look to notch its first victory on Wednesday against the Argentinians.

 

FIBA