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Game Report
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Quimsa grinds out nailbiter, Instituto upset 2021 champion Flamengo in Day 5 action

MONTEVIDEO (Uruguay) – Quimsa (ARG) beat Minas (BRA) in Group B and Instituto (ARG) beat Flamengo (BRA) in Group C, on Tuesday in Basketball Champions League Americas action. Here’s how the day played out in Montevideo, Uruguay.

Minas 93 – Quimsa 95

Minas may have won big the night before, but Quimsa stopped their winning streak at one as they took a 95-93 win.

For Group B, a group full of Basketball Champions League Americas veterans, no win comes easy and Minas and Bigua were the embodiment of that early.

 

Both teams came out tough, holding each other to just 15 points, as Wesley Ferreira attempted multiple shots early for Minas and came away with 4 points while Eric Lawon Anderson Jr and Brandon Robinson were defensively dominant and scored for Quimsa.

Quimsa pulled away with a six-point lead at the half thanks to 8 points in three minutes from Robinson. But Minas had Felipe Andre Vezaro rack up 10 points in six minutes for them including two from deep.

Shaquille Johnson showed out early for Minas, scoring, stealing and assisting while playing physical and commanding attention to draw fouls which kept his team close enough to make a comeback.

Quimsa was able to answer thanks to Franco Baralle who was a sharp shooter with 12 points from the three point line.

Even as Minas continued to fight until the end, their lack of depth was tested against a Quimsa team that had eight players with 6 or more points scored showed.

Robinson led all scorers with 27 points and Baralle added another 14 while Johnson and Ferreira combined for 45 of Minas’ 93 points, and Vezaro added 18 including shooting a perfect 100 percent from deep.

 

 

Flamengo 81 – 89 Instituto

Unhappy with their performance the night before, Instituto showed why they belong in BCLA action against Flamengo, one of the strongest teams in the history of the competition, as they took an 89-81 win.

The game was one of the closest and most evenly matched games that has been seen yet this season, with both teams scoring 21 points in the first quarter and another 23 in the second, tied at 44 points each at halftime.

 

Gaston Elias was Instituto’s star early, scoring 7 points and shooting clutch from the free throw line while Guilherme Deodato nailed six points from beyond the three-point arc for Flamengo.

The second quarter saw Tayavek Gallizzi score 6 points in just over a minute to put Instituto ahead and a breakout performance from Nicolas Romano sustained their momentum before a Jose Vildoza layup at the buzzer kept both teams level once again.

Flamengo fell flat in the third quarter with just 12 points while Instituto ran away with a 9 point lead and all the momentum going into the final frame.

A whopping 23 turnovers proved to be costly for Flamengo as Instituto was able to turn that over into 33 points. Instituto also played a physical game that caused Flamengo to foul and give Instituto a chance to shoot 89.5 percent from the foul line.

Even with a strong bench rotation, Instituto's defense on players like Rafael Hettsheimeir – who was held to just 12 points on 37.5 percent shooting – was key to hand Flamengo a loss to open up this year’s campaign.

Every single player on Instituto’s roster scored with five players scoring 8 or more, but Romano’s 22 points and 5 rebounds led all scorers while Gallizzi and Luciano Gonzalez both added 15 each.

Deodato led Flamengo with 20 points while Vildoza added 17 points and 6 rebounds in their loss.

 

FIBA