MIAMI (United States) – The third and final stage of the Group Phase in Season 7 of the Basketball Champions League Americas will be played from February 4 to February 12, when the final teams advancing to the Quarter-Finals will be determined. In Group A, Astros de Jalisco (MEX) and Paisas (COL) have already secured first and second place. The same is true in Group B, where Nacional (URU) and Flamengo (BRA) have locked up the top two spots. In Group D, SESI Franca (BRA) and Instituto (ARG) must still determine who will finish first, while in Group C, Minas (BRA), Boca Juniors (ARG) and Aguada (URU) remain in contention, with one team set to be eliminated. With Quarter-Final pairings on the line, Stage 3 promises intense action. Here are some key facts and figures to know ahead of tip-off:
Group C
Upcoming games:
February 4 Minas vs. Aguada – Local time: 7:10 p.m. (GMT-3) February 5 Aguada vs. Boca Juniors – Local time: 7:10 p.m. (GMT-3) February 6 Minas vs. Boca Juniors – Local time: 7:10 p.m. (GMT-3) Venue: Arena UniBH, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
Aguada has never beaten a Brazilian team in BCL Americas play (0-4).
Martin Cuello (Boca Juniors) is 2 points away from reaching 500 career points in BCL Americas (only 10 players have surpassed that mark).
Santiago Scala (Boca Juniors) is 8 points shy of 500 and 15 assists away from reaching 200. Only two players in BCL Americas history have surpassed that assists total. With 48 games played, he is also two away from reaching 50 appearances; the only player with more than 50 games played is Juan Brussino (54).
Luis Santos (Aguada) is four rebounds away from reaching 200 in BCL Americas history; only seven players have surpassed that total. He also needs one more double-double to reach 11 and tie Eric Anderson and Ismael Romero for the most double-doubles in BCL Americas history.
Group B
Upcoming games:
February 7 Obras vs. Nacional – Local time: 7:10 p.m. (GMT-3) February 8 Nacional vs. Flamengo – Local time: 7:10 p.m. (GMT-3) February 9 Obras vs. Flamengo – Local time: 7:10 p.m. (GMT-3) Venue: Obras Sanitarias Stadium, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Flamengo is two games away from becoming the first team to reach 60 games played in BCL Americas history and two wins away from becoming the first to reach 50 victories. They are also 62 points shy of 5,000 total points, which would be another league first.
Nacional is riding an active four-game winning streak, the longest in club history in the competition.
Obras are currently on a six-game losing streak (the club's record is eight).
Alexey Borges (Flamengo) is 19 assists away from reaching 200, which would make him just the third player to reach that mark in league history.
Group D
Upcoming games:
February 7 Instituto vs. SESI Franca – Local time: 10:10 p.m. (GMT-3) February 8 SESI Franca vs. UdeC – Local time: 10:10 p.m. (GMT-3) February 9 Instituto vs. UdeC – Local time: 10:10 p.m. (GMT-3) Venue: Ángel Sandrín Stadium, Córdoba, Argentina.
Instituto has won its last two games at Ángel Sandrín Stadium and is seeking its first three-game home winning streak in BCL Americas play.
Franca has won its last four games in Argentina and seven of its last eight games played in the country (not exclusively against Argentine teams).
The February 7 matchup between Instituto and Franca will be the 300th game in BCL Americas history.
Franca’s 41 assists against UdeC in January set a new single-game record.
Franca’s 39 made two-point field goals against UdeC in January are the most ever in a single BCL Americas game.
Franca’s 39 points in the third quarter against UdeC in January tied for the highest scoring quarter by a team in BCL Americas history (San Lorenzo vs. Mogi, BCLA1; Quimsa vs. São Paulo, BCLA5).
Franca’s 73 points in the second half against UdeC are the most ever scored by a team in one half. (previous record: 70 by San Lorenzo vs. Mogi).
UdeC is currently on a 13-game losing streak, the longest in BCL Americas history.
Lucas Dias (Franca), with 291 rebounds, is one away from becoming the all-time rebounding leader in BCL Americas history. He needs nine more rebounds to become the first player to reach 300+.
David Jackson (Franca) is 24 points away from reaching 700 career points in BCL Americas (only three players have surpassed that mark). He is also two games away from reaching 50 appearances.
Helinho Rubens (Franca head coach) is two games away from tying David Rosario (48) as the second-most games coached in BCL Americas history. Gustavo Conti leads the list with 50.
Group A
Upcoming games:
February 10 Astros vs. Paisas – Local time: 8:10 p.m. (GMT-6) February 11 Paisas vs. Caimanes – Local time: 8:10 p.m. (GMT-6) February 12 Astros vs. Caimanes – Local time: 8:10 p.m. (GMT-6) Venue: Astros Arena, Guadalajara, Mexico.
Guadalajara will become the 27th city to host a BCL Americas game.
Astros set the single-game scoring record twice against Caimanes, first with 123 points and then with 131. The previous record belonged to Franca (120) earlier this season against UdeC.
Astros’ 62-point win over Caimanes is the largest margin of victory in BCL Americas history. The previous record was 58 points, set by Franca against UdeC earlier this season
Astros’ 50 made field goals against Caimanes are a new single-game record (previous high: 49 by Franca vs. UdeC this season).
Who’s in and who’s out?
Boca Juniors announced Nicolás Casalánguida as the new head coach, replacing Gonzalo Pérez. The club also added point guard Juan Martín Guerrero.
Jordan Loveridge is Instituto’s newest signing.
Astros will have small forward Paulo Arroyo available for home games.
FIBA