PAYSANDU (Uruguay) – Nacional showed great poise in front of its home fans at Estadio 8 de Junio in Paysandú and beat the defending Basketball Champions League Americas titleholder Flamengo, 75-63 in the opening game of Group B, which tipped off on Saturday night.
Turning point
In a game where offense was not lacking, the Uruguayan team tightened up defensively in the third quarter and put together a decisive 19–2 run over eight minutes to build a 49–31 lead. Overall, the hosts won the third period 23–11, entering the final 10 minutes with a 53–40 advantage. As expected, Flamengo refused to go quietly. Fueled by Shaquille Johnson and Álex Negrete, the Brazilian side mounted a push and cut the deficit to four (67–63) with 2:13 remaining. Just as Nacional appeared to wobble, Gianfranco Espíndola blocked Negrete on a drive to the basket, sparking a fast break that Connor Zinaich finished with an alley-oop feed from Luciano Parodi to extend the lead to 69–63 with 1:30 left on the clock.
Player of the game
In his BCL Americas debut, Zinaich stood out with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Oglivie followed with 14 points and 9 boards, while James Feldeine added 10 points.
Flamengo was without last season’s MVP Alexey Borges due to injury, and Negrete poured in 19 points off the bench and Johnson finished with 18.
Stats don’t lie
Nacional shot just 36 percent from the field (26-of-72) and struggled from long range, hitting only 4 of 22 three-point attempts. Flamengo fared even worse, connecting on just 30 percent of its shots (21-of-70) and going 7-for-38 from beyond the arc, with three of those triples coming in the final period. The Uruguayan squad punished its opponent on the glass with 21 offensive rebounds and dominated second-chance points (28–11) as well as points in the paint (40–24). Nacional’s 52 total rebounds were its highest output in 17 BCL Americas games. Flamengo’s 63 points marked the second-lowest scoring total in the club’s history in the competition (62 against Boca Juniors in Season 5).
Bottom line
With the win, Nacional improved to four victories in seven games against Brazilian opponents— three of them coming in the last four meetings. Flamengo, meanwhile, saw its seven-game winning streak against Uruguayan teams come to an end. This Saturday, Flamengo (0–1) will look to bounce back against Argentina’s Obras (7:10 p.m. local time), while the hosts will have the day off.
FIBA