SINES (FIBA EuroBasket 2021 Pre-Qualifiers) - Portugal are the new group leaders in Group C, taking down Cyprus 76-64 in a game they controlled from start to finish. They now own the tiebreaker between the two teams.

Turning point: Although Portugal had the lead, they weren't able to break away from Cyprus until Tomas Barroso took over in the fourth quarter. He had scored 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc in the first half, and went on to hit two more bombs from deep, including a four-point play, to take a 59-50 lead and make it a 67-50 advantage with five minutes to play.

Game hero: Tomas Barroso shot 1-of-5 from deep in the first meeting and made up for that performance in the return fixture. The shooting guard knocked down 5 three-pointers on his way to a team-high 18 points, and he is shooting 11-of-21 from beyond the arc since that first game. 

Stats don't lie: It is hard to win games away from home without the second unit. Cyprus got outscored 46-5 in that department, and with 21 turnovers and 13 offensive rebounds allowed, they are lucky that the final margin wasn't even bigger.

Game notes: For the first time in three games, Portugal did not allow their opponent to get a double digit lead early on. Cyprus will feel like they blew their chance to win the group in the first fixture between the teams, when they won by 2 after leading by 13. Both teams are at 2-1 and will face Luxembourg in the June-July window.

They said: "We had 13 steals and Cyprus had 21 turnovers. That was the key. We defended well and fighted for every ball. We dedicate this win to Fábio Lima, who was injured and suffered more than anyone during the game" - Portugal national team coach Mario Gomes. 

FIBA