Boca Juniors prevail in epic battle with Flamengo

 BUENOS AIRES (Argentina) – In front of a delirious crowd at La Bombonerita, Boca Juniors defeated Flamengo, 71-68, Sunday night in Buenos Aires.

The Argentinians completed the historic win after erasing a double-digit deficit early in the second half. Down 39-34 in the third quarter, Gonzalo García’s squad uncorked a 16-0 run to get themselves back in the game.

 

The final stanza was an absolute nail-biter, full of intensely argued calls and capped by an old-fashioned free throw duel. Flamengo’s Yago Santos had the chance to send the game to overtime when he was fouled on a three-point attempt with 2.6 seconds left in regulation but missed all his attempts.

Boca managed to pull the upset thanks to their interior firepower, outscoring Flamengo 34-16 in points in the paint.

Dominican star Eloy Vargas paced them with 14 points and 8 rebounds, including a tough bucket with under a minute left:

 

Boca Juniors shot 38.4 percent from the field and only managed six three-pointers but compensated by taking better care of the ball (14 turnovers to 19 for the Brazilians).

Carlos Schattmann (11 points) and Leandro Vildoza (15 points, 7 assists and 4 steals) led the perimeter attack for the home team.

 

Flamengo had jumped to a 31-21 lead in the second quarter and seemed poised to run away with the game, much like they did when they faced Boca in early December.

Brandon Robinson slowed down after a hot start, finishing with 14 points on 5/14 from the field.

Santos added another 14, but Flamengo bigs Olivinha and Vitor Faverani were in foul trouble and couldn’t give their usual production.

 

With the win, Boca Juniors (3-1) tied Flamengo (3-1) atop Group D action after both teams defeated Universidad de Concepción (0-4) over the weekend.

The third and final group phase is scheduled for March 11-13 in Chile.

 

FIBA