MONTEVIDEO (Uruguay) – SESI Franca took care of business on the road, defeating Hebraica Macabi, 96-67, Tuesday evening at Antel Arena.

The defending Basketball Champions League Americas champions put on a complete performance, employing a balanced attack to get one step closer to the Final 4.

Turning point: What started as a surprisingly even affair quickly turned into what most prognosticators expected.

After a pair of lead changes in the first couple of minutes, Franca took an 8-6 lead and never looked back, stretching their lead to double digits at the end of the first quarter, then to 21 at the half and eventually just shy of 30 right before the final buzzer.

Player of the Game: Franca had 5 different players scoring in double digits led by the same man who dominated the Group Stage: Lucas Dias.

Dias had 19 points on 7/12 from the field (4/8 from beyond the arc). He added 5 rebounds, 5 assists and a steal. Up and coming big man Marcio Santos finished with 15 points and 8 boards, while Wesley Ferreira shot 7/11 from the field for 15 points and a game-high 4 steals.

David Jackson (12 points) and Heissler Guillent (10) were the others in double digits.

Franklin Hassell (16 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists) paced Hebraica, while Jordan Williams added 12 points but on 5/15 from the field.

Stats don’t lie: The final box score speaks of Franca’s dominance across the board. The Brazilians shot 53.5 percent from the field and 12/31 from beyond the arc. They had twice as many assists (24) than turnovers (12) and won both the rebounding (43-32) and paint (48-38) battles. They also had 10 more points off turnovers than their opponent (16-6) and only sent Macabi to the line 10 times.

However, the combination of star power and depth was what tipped the scales. You can tell the game wasn’t just about Dias and Ferreira when Franca’s bench outscored Hebraica’s 43-19.

Bottom line: Helinho Rubens’ club is looking to become the first team to win BCLA multiple times and to do it in back-to-back fashion would add greatly to their lore.

They’ll now look to sweep the series in Game 2 on Friday at home. Meanwhile, Macabi will try to stay alive and force a Game 3, scheduled for Saturday if necessary.

FIBA