BUENOS AIRES (Argentina) – After falling in overtime to Obras the day before, SESI Franca bounced back with a convincing 88-72 win over UdeC on Thursday night in Group D action of Basketball Champions League Americas at Estadio Obras Sanitarias.

The first quarter ended in an even 22-22 score as Santiago Scala and Heissler Guillent made instant impacts for SESI Franca while Evandro Arteaga had the hot hand for UdeC with playmaking help from Kevin Rubio.

Guillent continued to anchor SESI Franca heading into the second quarter, while strong players like Wesley Ferreira and Lucas Dias who had dominant showings throughout the competition got into their rhythm and started finding the rim.

UdeC kept pushing and put the pressure on SESI Franca, with Marquez Letcher on both side of the ball making shots while playing big in the paint to grab rebounds and block shots. Derrick Woods also kept up his contributions for UdeC, but the team trailed by 4 points at the half as a late three-pointer from Alejandro Vergara cut what would have been a seven-point gap.

The third quarter was where SESI Franca made their statement that they were not losing two games in a row, extending the lead to double digits as they lead by as many as 18 points thanks to efforts from Nathan Fernandes, Marcio Santos and David Jackson.

But the defense from SESI Franca was the real key as they stifled any shot attempts from UdeC, holding them nearly 5 minutes without a basket as Woods was the only player to score for their side within the first 6 minutes of play.

Arteaga and Rubio attempted to breathe some life back into UdeC late as they scored 10 points in the final three and a half minutes, but the gap made by SESI Franca was significant heading into the final 10 minutes of play.

Frustrating UdeC, SESI Franca continued to play stealthy defense grabbing steals and forcing more turnovers, while defensively UdeC tried to use their size to slow down Franca, but allowed too many second chance baskets that allowed Franca to pull ahead.

Woods continued to put on a stellar performance for UdeC, but Franca’s speed was too much for UdeC as they dominated in transition while also allowing SESI Franca to control the boards on both ends of play with Eduardo Elevi guarding the glas.

Fernandes and Guillent each tallied 16 points for Franca, with Guillent adding 7 assists, while Elevi and Santos added 13 and 12 rebounds respectively. Dias added 13 points and 7 rebounds for SESI Franca.

Woods led all scorers with 23 points and 9 rebounds, with Rubio adding 13 points and Letcher adding 12 points and 7 rebounds in the loss.

FIBA