Quimsa holds off Universidad de Concepción in BCLAmericas thriller

CONCEPCIÓN (Chile) - In what was a thrilling affair, Quimsa held off an upset bid from Universidad de Concepción, 99-97, on a last-second, winning layup from Mauro Cosolito.

UDC had possession coming out of a timeout with three seconds remaining in regulation and the game all knotted at 97. Then came the moment of the evening as Cosolito jumped the pass off the inbounds play and took it the rest of the way for a wild right-handed finish over the defender with less than one second remaining.

While Quimsa was bailed out by Cosolito following their blown lead in the fourth quarter, both club's complete offensive efforts were impressive in their own ways.

Quimsa had seven players in double figures, including Leonardo Mainoldi – who led the team with 16 – and Trevor Gaskins and Diamon Simpson – who combined for 28 total points. The squad's best player, Brandon Robinson, actually struggled to the tune of just four made field goals, but Quimsa was able to overcome an off day from their leading scorer with 14 made 3's and an extra punch from players like Nicolas Copello, Cosolito and Ismael Romero.

Romero, in particular, was impressive inside, as he shot 5-of-7 from the field and seemed to be all over the place on the interior. He recorded two blocks and was a nice, efficient compliment to Simpson.

Even though Universidad fell short, it was an inspiring overall effort from the bunch. Brandon Moss and Blake Hamilton played their hearts out with 33 and 26 points, respectively, while the team shot 51% overall from the field.

The differences in the game came down to Quimsa's balance and Universidad’s struggles from beyond the arc (only 30 percent from 3), but ultimately, the late turnover and the shot that came off Cosolito's hands were the deciding factors.

UDC actually led by as many as nine points in the opening quarter as they shot the ball well from the field and limited Robinson. Robinson – who only had five points in the first two quarters – didn’t hold back his club, though, as Quimsa distributed a superb 14 assists on 20 made field goals in the opening 20 minutes.

With UDC searching for their first win in the BCLA Americas and Quimsa looking to avoid two straight losses, it was obvious the energy and competitiveness that shined bright in the first half was going to be off the charts for 40 minutes.

That's exactly what happened, as both teams traded buckets down the stretch before a photo finish put Quimsa back in the mix to take the Group B lead following the second window.

Quimsa (2-1) will be back in action on Friday vs. undefeated So Paulo, while Universidad de Concepción (0-3) will have the day off before dueling with So Paulo on Saturday.

FIBA