BUENOS AIRES (Argentina) – Needing a win to keep their Basketball Champions League of Americas hopes alive, Nacional fought off a tough Sao Paulo FC team with an 86-82 win in Buenos Aires on Sunday night.

Tyrone Curnell had another solid showing for Sao Paulo, starting early with 9 points shooting 100 percent from the floor including two shots from beyond the arc.

On Nacional’s side Eric Anderson anchored the offense with 10 points while also adding 3 rebounds, but it was notching 7 points off turnovers that kept Nacional on par with Sao Paulo who led 24-22.

But Sao Paulo’s bench contributed 12 points to none from Nacional’s bench which gave them the slight edge after the first quarter with Curnell leading the bench while Malcolm Miller scored 6 points leading the starters.

Nacional found momentum in the second half, leading by 5 at the halfway point of the quarter, with Anderson leading the way scoring 12 points by the half while Demian Alvarez and Franco Giorgetti added 10 and 11 points respectively.

8 points from Henrique Coelho and 5 points from Corderro Bennett kept Sao Paulo afloat and by the half the teams were tied 46-46.

Sao Paulo’s bench continued to dominate while they also started to capitalize off turnovers of their own while Nacional still controlled the game in the paint, scoring 20 of their total points in the half from down low.

Despite Sao Paulo continually pushing back after falling behind to Nacional, they once again fell behind by 5 points in the third quarter with Michael Smith adding 7 points shooting 66.7 percent from two-point range.

The big four of Bennett, Coelho, Curnell and Miller continued to push for Sao Paulo, but the team trailed by 3 points going into the final frame as Anderson, Smith and Giorgetti kept the offense alive for Nacional.

Patricio Prieto played two-way ball with 8 rebounds and 8 points for Nacional, controlling the defensive boards to give them the slight advantage going into the last 10 minutes of play, hoping to keep their dreams alive with a win.

A three points game at 79-76 with just over three minutes to play, Nacional never let Sao Paulo take back the lead despite cutting into the lead and secured the win with two final free throws from Anderson to seal the game.

Anderson led all scorers with 24 points on 62.5 percent scoring adding 9 rebounds, while Franco Giorgetti added 18 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists for Nacional.

Curnell led Sao Paulo with 23 points including going 4-of-7 from the three-point line as well as 3 assists. Bennett added 14 points and 3 assists in the loss.

FIBA