RIO DE JANEIRO (Brazil) - With eight teams earning a spot in the direct knockout stage, Cangrejeros and Quimsa kicked off the action as the first two teams to compete in the Basketball Champions League Americas Final 8.

Managing to hold off a second-half comeback attempt from Cangrejeros, Quimas held on for the win 87-79 to move past the quarter-final stage.

Quimsa managed to get into rhythm quickly, as Davauna Thomas shot 100 percent from the floor and managed to score 13 points in the first quarter alone as Quimsa led 31-18, though they had a lead as big as 19 at times until Cangrejeros started to find the basket in the final three minutes of play in the quarter.

Using the momentum they had created during the first quarter, Cangrejeros seemed to be in much better position on both sides of the ball in the second quarter, holding Quimsa to 19 points and scoring 18 of their own, but still trailing by 14 heading into the half despite efforts from Ramon Clemente and Gilberto Clavell heating up in the quarter.

Emmanuel Andujar and Jose Barea were held to just three points each in the quarter, and while other Cangrejeros scorers started to pick up the offense, the Quimsa defensive pressure was still too much for Cangrejeros as they only put up 16 shots as a team during the first half.

Quimsa’s Reyshawn Terry also shot 50 percent from the floor as he tallied 11 points in the half as Thomas’ offensive efforts were halted, and Ivan Gramajo added 8 points in the half to keep up a hefty lead.

In the second half, Cangrejeros continued to put pressure on Quimsa and outplayed their opponent in the second half of the match, even outscoring them in the final quarter, but the first half deficit was too much to overcome despite putting up a better shooting half offensively.

Managing to still keep poised defensively, Quimsa earned tough blocks on defense and controlled unnecessary fouls to keep Cangrejeros at bay even when shots weren’t falling the way they had in the first half of play.

Both teams were scrappy on defensive rebounds, as Clemente and Davon Jefferson used their size as they have all competition to try and win balls back to score in transition for Cangrejeros, but offensively could not contain Eric Anderson Jr, who finished the game with a 10 point, 14 rebound double-double including 10 defensive rebounds.

In a game where they shot better than their opponent, personal fouls and turnovers were Cangrejeros’ killer as they turned the ball over 15 times which allowed 12 points on Quimsa’s end, as well as sending Quimsa to the line for 24 foul shots, 21 of which they made.

Both teams had well-rounded, deep benches that saw at least five players on each team scoring in double digits, but the difference was made from the free throw line between the two teams despite Cangrejeros picking up the physicality in the paint and being able to score no matter the rotation.

Mauro Cosolito and Franco Baralle tipped in a combined 27 points with 13 points and 14 points respectively for Quimsa, while Isaac Sosa and Filiberto Rivera picked up the scoring slack for Cangrejeros when players like Clemente were heavily guarded in the matchup.

Quimsa will now move on to the semi-final round on Apr. 7 and play the winner of the game between Bigua and Boca Jrs.

FIBA