Great Day for Bauru’s veteran marksman

MOGI DAS CRUZES (Liga Sudamericana) - Robert Day was once a candidate to play for Brazil’s national team and on Tuesday night, it was easy to understand how that came to be..

The former Uberlandia star, now on the books of Bauru, made nine three-pointers in a row before missing one in his team’s Liga Sudamericana game against defending champions Uniceub Brasilia and ended up nailing 10 of 12 in his team’s 95-87 victory.

The win put Bauru into a strong position in Group F as they attempt to qualify for the Final Four.

The shooting display by Day was remarkable and largely responsible for a turnaround that Uniceub, the two-time winners of the Liga Sudamericana, could not have envisioned.

The Brasilia outfit, due largely to Bauru’s lethargy on both ends of the floor, opened up a 16-point lead midway through the second quarter with Lucas Cipolini pouring in the points and Guilherme making shots and big plays. Cipolini had 18 points at half-time.

When the third quarter started, however, Bauru played with a sense of urgency on defense and immediately began connecting from long range.

The 32-year-old Day, as the saying goes, was unconscious and put on one of the greatest shooting displays in the history of the tournament.

"We started poorly and the Brasilia team managed to open up an advantage," Day said. 

"At halftime we talked, we began playing better defense and the balls began to fall on the counterattack. 

"It's a fast phase (Semi-Final Round) and we can not falter."

Day, in fact, wasn’t the only player in the star-studded Bauru team to get hot from long range.

Bauru finished 19 of 43 from the arc.

The only bad thing they did in the second half was to take the foot off the pedal in the last few minutes and allow Brasilia to claw back a 21-point deficit to just eight.

That reduced margin of defeat was an exercise in damage limitation, something that could help them in a goal-differential tie-breaker should one be needed to determine the top two sides in Group F.

In the second game, hosts Mogi Das Cruzes blew away Comunikt, 95-67.

The Ecuadorian team put up a good fight in the first quarter but caved in during the second frame and suffered its first defeat of the Liga Sudamericana after winning all three Preliminary Round games.

On Wednesday, Bauru face Comunikt and Mogi Das Cruzes take on Uniceub.

FIBA