MIAMI (United States) – Flamengo, in Group B, and Minas, in Group C, earned their fourth consecutive victories and punched their tickets to the Basketball Champions League Americas Quarterfinals. During Monday’s slate, Flamengo got past Boca Juniors and Minas defeated defending champions Quimsa to reach the objective of advancing to the playoffs. These teams will join SESI Franca and Instituto, who this past weekend became the first squads to advance to the Quarterfinals out of Group D. This is how the action unfolded on January 13th:
Minas 80 – 69 Quimsa
Minas (4-0) picked up their 4th win in Group C after beating Quimsa (0-3), securing their spot in the Basketball Champions League Americas Quarterfinals. The Brazilian squad made four three-pointers in the final 3 minutes of the third quarter (a pair from Franco Baralle and one apiece from Jeremy Hollowell and Luis Montero) to pull away by double digits (68-57) and they never looked back. They extended their lead to 16 points (75-59) in the final period on 2 free throws from Winicius Silva with 6:04 left in regulation and Quimsa was never able to shave the deficit to under 10 points the rest of the way. Montero led the way for Minas with a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double with 2 blocks and 2 steals for a 25-efficiency rating. Baralle came off the bench to add 16 on four three-pointers in just 16 minutes of action, while Holowell had 14 (also on four makes from downtown).
Minas’ outside shooting was the key to their victory as they made 12 triples to only 4 for their opponents. Agustín Pérez had 22 points for Quimsa. Arnold Luis added a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double, while Tavario Miller chipped in 11 points and 8 boards. Quimsa, the tournament’s defending champions, are still winless and must now beat host team Biguá at Estadio 8 de Junio in Paysandú, Uruguay, on Tuesday to avoid getting eliminated.
Flamengo 96 – 61 Boca Juniors
Flamengo (4-0) had another stellar showing, defeating Boca Juniors (1-2) to secure their spot in the next round. The Rio de Janeiro club looked sharp on the Arena Roberto Durán (Panama City) parquet and dominated from beginning to end. A 30-14 run in the second quarter allowed them to go to halftime up by 57-35 and Boca could never recover. Conversely, the Brazilians kept stretching their lead in the second half. Shaquille Johnson led the way with 22 points (4 three-pointers). Alexey Borges (17 points and 6 assists), Jhonatan Dos Santos (13), Jordan Williams (13) and Ruan Miranda (10) also scored in double digits.
Gustavo Conti’s guys got huge margins on points off turnovers (27-7) and points in the paint (46-22). Boca, who could qualify if they beat Toros de Chiriquí on Tuesday, was led by Thomas Cooper (13 points) and Marcos Delía (10).
FIBA