MIAMI (USA) – Paisas clinched the final spot from Group A for the BCL Americas Quarterfinals by defeating Toros del Valle on Friday at the Coliseo Iván de Bedout in Medellín, Colombia. The Antioquian team, finishing second in their group, will meet Flamengo—the leader of Group B—in the next round. Seven teams have now secured their places in the Playoffs: Real Estelí and Paisas (Group A), Flamengo and Boca Juniors (Group B), Minas (Group C), and SESI Franca and Instituto (Group D). Only the second spot in Group C remains to be decided between the reigning champion, Quimsa, and Biguá. In the other game of the day, SESI Franca completed the Group Stage undefeated by dispatching Instituto. Friday’s Highlights:
Paisas 101 – 87 Toros del Valle
Paisas built a significant lead in front of their home crowd, dominating the rebounds and capitalizing on second-chance points to secure the win over Toros del Valle. Glenn Cosey played the full 40 minutes and led the winners with 30 points (including four three-pointers) while going a perfect 14-14 from the free-throw line. Víctor Liz added 22 points, Eric Crawford contributed 21 points along with eight rebounds, and Juan Rosario finished with a double-double of 15 points and 12 rebounds.
It was a physical game from the start, but a 31-21 run in the second half allowed the home team to head to the break with a 52-44 lead and maintain their advantage until the final buzzer. In that period, center Eloy Vargas (for Paisas) and forward Luis Almanza (for Toros) were ejected following an altercation. At that moment, the hosts were up by just one point (36-35) with 3:13 remaining in the half. However, despite losing their best rebounder and missing Eric Griffin for much of the game due to four fouls in the first half, they took control. Paisas outrebounded Toros 52-33 (with 22 offensive boards to 11) and scored 26 second-chance points compared to only 6 from their opponents. That proved to be the key. Cristian Arboleda, who filled in for Vargas and played a significant portion of Griffin’s minutes, grabbed seven rebounds in 15 minutes—four of them offensive. “I give all the credit to Cristian and Juan (Rosario) who replaced Eloy very well. We’re very pleased with the qualification. Since January 2, we’ve held nearly 40 practices up to this point. These guys deserved it because we’ve worked very hard. Personally, I wasn’t having the best season, and I used that as fuel, as motivation to achieve what we did,” said Paisas head coach Daniel Seoane.
Regarding the Quarterfinal matchup against Flamengo, Liz commented, “It’s going to be exciting. They are a historic rival with a championship in this league. I believe it will be a great experience for everyone in this organization. After two or three days of rest, we will focus and make the necessary adjustments to compete in top form.” For Toros del Valle, Josimar Ayarza finished with 19 points, while Soren de Luque (17 points), Michaell Wright (15), Benito Santiago Jr. (15), and Christian Pizarro (10) also reached double digits.
SESI Franca 83 – 68 Instituto
Por segundo partido consecutivo SESI Franca (6-0) dejó lo mejor para el final y con un parcial de 28-13 en el cuarto período doblegó a Instituto (3-3) en el último juego del Grupo A, que se efectuó en el Ginásio Pedrocão de Franca.
Ambos equipos previamente habían asegurado su clasificación a los Cuartos de Final y se enfrentarán en esa instancia a los rivales del Grupo C. SESI Franca espera por el ganador entre Quimsa, el actual campeón, y Biguá. Mientras que Instituto se cruzará con Minas. Franca hizo gala de su juego colectivo y tuvo a cinco jugadores sobre los 10 puntos. El ataque desde la larga distancia inclinó la balanza a su favor con 12 triples encestados contra solo 4 de sus oponentes. Facundo Corvalán, con 14 puntos, comandó a los dueños de casa. Georginho De Paula (9 rebotes y 5 asistencias), Lucas Dias y Wesley Ferreira anotaron 12 cada uno y Charles Hinkle 11. Por Instituto, Nicola Pomoli culminó con 20 unidades. Álex Negrete le siguió con 16 tantos y 9 tableros. Javier Saiz y Emmitt Holt añadieron 10 contables, cada uno.
FIBA