Scala shines in Instituto's last second win over Minas

BELO HORIZONTE (Brazil) – Santiago Scala's 21-point performance, assisted by Nestor Colmenares' double-double, lifted Instituto over Minas in Group D play on Sunday evening at Arena Minas Tênis Clube.

The first quarter saw both teams fight on each end of the court, as no one player was able to score more than 10 points in the first quarter, but Instituto had the 2-point edge over Minas as they finished the quarter 21-29.

Shaquille Kamel Johnson led Minas' charge both offensively and defensively in the first 10 minutes, but Scala's 8 points, almost half of Instituto’s first quarter points, were too much for Minas to stop.

Minas refused to stay down in the game, as David Jackson added 5 points in the second quarter to bring his personal total to 9 points, while defensively holding Scala to 0 points in the game and outshooting their opponent 20-17.

The back-and-forth game continued through the third, with multiple lead changes from both sides, it was Instituto who extended their lead to 6 points by the end of the third quarter thanks to a last second shot at the buzzer from Mateo Chiarini.

Despite Scala scoring only 2 points during the third quarter, Ronald Jackson Jr. and Colmenares racked up a combined 22 points by the end of the third, over one-third of the team’s total points.

Davi Rossetto picked up the slack offensively for Minas, adding 11 points of his own before the end of the third to keep Minas in the action

The effort of Minas would swing the momentum for the fourth quarter, tying the game multiple times and holding a 5-point lead with just over two minutes to play in the fourth quarter thanks to foul trouble from Instituto.

A bad foul by Rafael Moreira Da Silva allowed Instituto to take a 1-point lead back with 1:16 left to play in the game, and Minas' lack of rebounding on both ends of the court resulted in a 3-point Instituto lead with just 30 seconds left to play.

Scala would also be crucial to Instituto, scoring 10 points in the final quarter to help take back the lead. Gui Carvalho had a double-double for Minas, but the performance was not enough to sav ethe squad from a loss.

With just 15 seconds left to play, Johnson made it a 1-point game, causing Instituto to call a timeout, but a missed 3-point attempt by Luciano Parodi and 3 out of 4 foul throws made for Instituto allowed them to win the game, 84-81.

FIBA