Sesi Franca finish 6-0, Quimsa put Minas away with late run

MIAMI (United States) - Groups B and D in the Basketball Champions League Americas reached their conclusions Sunday night with Sesi Franca and Quimsa coming out on top in their respective games. Here's how those two games played out:

Sesi Franca 103 - 63 UdeC

Sesi Franca continued their dominance this season in the BCLA and closed out this final group stage with a near wire-to-wire 40-point victory in front of their fans in Brazil.

Sesi Franca jumped out to a 21-14 lead and just like in his last game, Georginho De Paula got off to a fast start with 8 points in the first quarter.

UdeC opened the second quarter on an 8-0 run and grabbed a brief lead, but Sesi Franca finished the rest of the quarter on a high note and flipped momentum in their favor with a 53-34 lead at halftime. Three players were already in double figure scoring for the team from Brazil including De Paula, Lucas Mariano and Lucas Dias.

 

It was more of the same for Sesi Franca, as they carried that momentum into the third quarter with an 18-0 run and extended their lead to as many as 44 points, while also holding UdeC to just 8 points in the frame.

Five players scored in double figures for Sesi Franca (Dias, Mariano, De Paula, David Jackson and Michael Smith), with Dias leading the way with 22 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists on 7-of-9 shooting from the field and a game-high 27 efficiency. Six players also grabbed at least 5 rebounds.

 

Carlos Milano led UdeC in defeat with a 19-point, 13-rebound double-double, a season-high for the 37-year-old in both stat categories.

Sesi Franca were on fire from three-point range, sinking 20-of-42 and outscoring UdeC (6-of-25) by 42 points from beyond the arc. Sesi Franca also dished out 24 assists and only committed 8 turnovers for a 3:1 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Sesi Franca finish in first place in Group D with a perfect record of 6-0 and will face the second-place team from Group C in the Quarterfinals. UdeC, meanwhile, finish second in the group at 2-4 and will face the first-place team from Group C in the Quarterfinals.

 

Quimsa 83 - 72 Minas

Quimsa rounded out their final BCLA group stage game with a three-game sweep of Minas after defeating them 83-72 at home in Estadio Ciudad.

Quimsa began the game up 10, but Minas won the second quarter 22-14 to get back to within two points at halftime. Brandon Robinson led all scorers at the half with 17 points.

After the game was tied at 54 apiece, Quimsa ended the third quarter on a 10-2 run to take a 64-56 lead into the fourth quarter. Minas got as close as four points in the final quarter but put the game away with a 12-5 run.

Robinson finished as the player of the game with 29 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals on 9-of-16 shooting from the field. The 33-year-old beat out his previous season-high of 27 points.

 

All 10 players who played tonight for Quimsa got into the scoring column. Kevin Hernandez was the team's second leading scorer with 12 points in only 13 minutes off the bench, and 8 of his points came in the third quarter.

Wesley Ferreira was the top man for Minas, recording 24 points (14 in the second half) and 7 rebounds while shooting 50 percent from the field. He also made 9-of-10 free-throws.

 

Quimsa finish first in Group B with a record of 5-1 and will face the second-place team from Group A, either Real Esteli or Libertadores, in the Quarterfinals. Minas, meanwhile, finish second in the group at 3-3 and will face the first-place team from Group A, one of the aforementioned Real Esteli or Libertadores, in the Quarterfinals.

 

FIBA