FIBA Americas League - Lewis, Soles pull away late to beat Minas

MEXICALI (FIBA Americas League) - Hosts Soles de Mexicali got off to a flying start at the FIBA Americas League Final Four with a 95-83 triumph over Minas Tenis Clube on Thursday in Mexico.

Greg Lewis poured in a game-high 27 points and hauled in 16 rebounds for the winners.

Richard López weighed in with 19 points, DeJuan Wheat 15, Horacio Llamas 14 and James Penny 12.

Minas had a fine start with Jasper Johnson scoring 10 of his 19 points in the opening period for a 26-22 advantage.

In the second quarter, Lewis scored seven of his 16 first-half points to fire Soles into a 53-42 lead, only for Minas to reel off 10 straight points at the beginning of the third quarter to narrow the gap to 53-52.

Llamas and Wheat buried three-balls to spark an 8-0 run, but Soles weren't able to pull away.

Instead, Minas cut a 65-54 deficit to just one when Facundo Sucatzky's two free throws left the hosts clinging to a 67-66 advantage with 10 minutes remaining.

With 3:51 to go, the game still hung in the balance with Soles on top, 80-77.

That's when the Mexican outfit took command.

Llamas hit a jumper and Lewis sank two at the charity stripe.

Not long after, a Wheat three-pointer stretched the advantage to 87-78 and the advantage ballooned to 95-79 with 59 seconds to play before Soles settled for a 12-point triumph.

Johnson led Minas with 23 points and five rebounds for Minas, who also got 18 from Evandro Fernandes Pinto.

As for Lewis, it was a dominating display. He was nine of 20 from the floor and nine of 11 at the line.

Nine of his 16 rebounds came on the offensive glass.

On Friday, Minas face Peñarol while Soles take on Miami.

The final four is being played in a round-robin format and concludes on Saturday.

FIBA