Strong first half leads São Paulo FC to win over Quimsa

SÃO PAULO (Brasil) – More than 50 first half points from São Paulo FC helped them to secure a 92-84 win over Quimsa in Group B action of Basketball Champions League Americas on Monday night in Sao Paulo.

With this result, Group B ends in a triple tie, all with a 3-3 record, but because of points for and against, Quimsa was first and Nacional was second, for both to complete their qualification to the Quarterfinals.

Quimsa and Nacional (Group B), join Halcones de Xalapa and Real Estelí (Group A), Flamengo and Hebraica Macabi (Group C) and SESI Franca and Obras (Group D), as the eight teams headed for the Quarterfinals (see the crossings here).

Led once again by the likes of Ralfi Silva and Ricardo Fischer, São Paulo had four players contribute 8 or more points in the first half to give them a double-digit lead over Quimsa, with Tayavek Gallizzi being the sole player to score more than 5 point for Quimsa.

After the first quarter Quimsa trailed by only 8 points, but São Paulo outscored their opponent 28-19 in the second quarter despite Juan Brussino and Bruno Sansimoni adding for Quimsa.

As São Paulo shot 50 percent from the field and controlled down low using their size, Whims trailed by as many as 19 in the first half despite being an evenly matched side.

After the third quarter São Paulo maintained their double digit lead, having an 11-point advantage on Quimsa despite Brandon Robinson adding 10 points in the quarter and Fabian Ramirez adding another 6.

Malcom Miller tallied 13 points by the end of the quarter for São Paulo, but Fischer and Silva were held to just 5 points combined as Quimsa started to find some fight in the paint and score second chance points while limiting their turnovers.

The fourth quarter was a strong showing from both teams, with Quimsa cutting the deficit to as little as 7 points, but São Paulo pushing back to lead by as many as 16, but the first half domination from São Paulo was too much of a gap for Quimsa to close.

Sao Paulo’s size in the paint allowed them to score 40 points while also adding another 29 from their bench rotation, compared to just 24 and 15 respectively from Quimsa in those categories.

Silva led São Paulo with 20 points and 8 rebounds, Fischer added 19 points, 7 assists and 3 rebounds, and Miller tallied 17 points and 4 rebounds for São Paulo in the win.

Robinson led Quimsa with 21 points and 10 rebounds, recording a double-double, while Ramirez added one of his own with 15 points and 10 rebounds in the loss.

FIBA