FRANCA (Brazil) – Minas Tenis Clube forced a decisive third game in the Basketball Champions League Americas Quarter-Finals on Wednesday after defeating SESI Franca 110-101 on the road at the Pedrocão Gymnasium. The Belo Horizonte squad bounced back from Sunday’s home loss and pushed the series to a winner-take-all matchup on Thursday at the same venue.
Turning point
Minas entered the second half with 45 points and then exploded offensively, scoring 33 and 32 in the final two quarters to surpass the 100-point mark. The separation began in the third period with a 33–22 run fueled by seven three-pointers. In the final stretch, despite Franca’s push with 30 points, Minas answered with six more shots from beyond the arc to secure the win. The 62 points combined by both teams in the fourth quarter rank as the third-highest total in a single quarter in BCL Americas history (the record is 64).
Player of the game
Eric McCree and Jordan Williams combined for 53 points. McCree scored 27, including six three-pointers, while adding 4 rebounds and 3 assists. Williams contributed 26 points — with three triples — along with 2 rebounds and 2 steals. Both players had modest numbers at halftime, combining for just 12 points, with Williams yet to make a field goal. The offensive explosion came afterward. McCree led the third-quarter surge with 11 points, while Williams took over late with 18 in the fourth.
Juan Arengo completed the offensive trio with 13 points, while also dishing out 6 assists and grabbing 5 rebounds. For Franca, Lucas Dias posted 18 points and 7 rebounds. The power forward reached 303 career rebounds in the competition, becoming the first player in tournament history to surpass the 300 mark. Paulo Barbosa and Corderro Bennett added 15 points each.
Stats don’t lie
Minas started the game struggling from long range, making just 4 of 14 attempts. However, they later found their rhythm, hitting 12 of their next 17 three-point shots to finish with an impressive 51 percent accuracy from beyond the arc. Despite the loss, Franca led several statistical categories, including rebounds (40–35), assists (21–19) and steals (10–4), as well as points off turnovers (23–14), fast-break points (21–11) and second-chance points (21–4).
Bottom line
Franca head coach Helinho Rubens tied Gustavo Conti for the most games coached in BCL Americas history with 50.
Minas’ 110 points mark the second-highest scoring output for the franchise in 46 games in the competition, just one point shy of their record set in Season 4 against Biguá (URU).
FIBA