CONCEPCION (Chile) – While Obras started this window of Basketball Champions League Americas with a convincing win yesterday, their momentum was halted as Franca claimed a 118-94 win in Group D action at Concepcion on Sunday night.

The two teams were bound to put up a high-scoring affair, and the first quarter set the tone as the teams stayed close as Franca got the 29-26 edge in the action. Lucas Dias and Santiago Scala led Franca early in scoring while Franco Smaniotti and Andre Spight, who had a huge game the day before, led Obras.

Jeffrey Solarin continued to make an impact for Obras into the second quarter, but as Dias, Scala continued to dominate offensively along with a late push from David Jackson who added 5 points in the final 1:09 of the half, Franca led by 17 going into the second half.

Coming off a less than ideal second quarter, Obras pushed into another gear in the third quarter, holding Franca to 21 points, their lowest scoring quarter of the game, while adding 23 points of their own thanks to Spight, Solarin and Pedro Barral who continued to make his presence felt on the boards while also contributing on offense.

Juan Venegas also added to Obras’ dominance in the quarter not only adding baskets but also facilitating play as he tallied 5 assists in the match. Marcio Santos and Wesley Ferreira however added the pressure from Franca’s side to keep Obras behind.

Obras pressured defensively grabbing two steals in the quarter, which was a small portion of their 9 total for the game, but fouls would sink the team as they committed 26 fouls to Franca’s 15. Franca added 21 points shooting 75 percent from the line.

Franca continued to push to the final whistle as they added 34 fourth quarter points, shooting 63.9 percent from two-point range and 48.6 percent from the three-point arc, with Scala hitting six three-pointers for 18 of his game-high 22 points.

While the teams were evenly matched in bench strength and size, Franca found their chance to beat Obras in transition, as they scored 27 points off of 13 turnovers and scored 30 points on the fast break that Obras had no answer for.

Charles Hinkle also caused trouble for Obras, going a perfect 100 percent from the three-point arc for Franca while shooting 87.5 percent total going 7-of-8 from the floor for Franca, and with five of Franca’s eight active players adding 18 or more points, Obras could not stop them offensively.

Despite multiple players on both sides having such high scoring games, Obras lost on the rebound battle, as Franca controlled the defensive boards 32-20.

Scala led Franca with 22 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists while Santos and Dias both added 21 points with Dias also recording a double-double with 13 points and 6 assists.

Spight once again led Obras with a 21-point performance while Smaniotti added 12 going 7-of-11 from the floor, with Barral and Solarin both adding 13.

FIBA