The ‘red’ team, two-time national champions and winners of the Portuguese Cup, arrived ahead at halftime (52-36) and thus secured the first trophy of the basketball season. Benfica leads the Supertaça record, now with fifteen titles, followed by Ovarense with eight and FC Porto with seven.
Benfica and Imortal played the first trophy of the basketball season, the Supertaça, now called Supertaça Mário Saldanha, in honor of the former president of the Portuguese Basketball Federation, in the Multiusos de Odivelas.
On the ‘red’ side, the top scorers were Toney Douglas (‘MVP’ of the game with 19 points, three rebounds and five assists), Trey Drechsel (17 points) and Terrel Carter (16). In the Imortal formation, Jackson Stormo (19 points) and Cameron Copeland (17) stood out.
The two-time national champions and Portuguese Cup winners, led by Norberto Alves, made little change to the championship structure, with only two entries, Portuguese international center Daniel Relvão and North American winger Trey Drechsel.
As for Imortal, under the leadership of Bernardo Pires, former coach of the Algarve under-23 team, they made a small ‘revolution’ in the squad and strengthened with the North American bases Cameron Copeland and Phil Taylor and the Portuguese André Silva, the winger Pedro Santos, North American winger Ryan Weber, striker Rafael Solposto and winger Jackson Stormo.
The ‘eagles’ quickly showed great individual and collective strength in the match against Imortal, and two consecutive triples from winger Trey Drechsel gave them an eight-point lead (14-6) midway through the first period.
However, the young team from Albufeira fought back and closed the gap to 16-14, showing great consistency in defensive rebounds and sharpness on the counter-attack.
Still, Benfica regained its momentum and ended the first half with a 21-15 win.
The red team came in again in the second period with great determination and maintained distances, with post Terrel Carter proof in attack. Six minutes before half-time, some individual mistakes by Benfica allowed Imortal to recover to 31-28.
However, the national champion showed more arguments and ‘shot’ to a difference of 14 points (52-36) at halftime, after a triple by Toney Douglas at the buzzer.
In the third period, the Algarve team came prepared to change the course of events and scored five points in a row (52-41), but Benfica’s ‘weapons’ returned to ‘charge’, mainly through the shots of outside of Toney Douglas, with the North America catapulted the ‘red’ team to the biggest difference of the match (62-46).
In the final half, Imortal came closer again and reduced the difference to just four points (73-69), largely thanks to Benfica’s inconsistency at attacking level. Yet Benfica once again pulled out all the stops to clearly win the Basketball Super Cup.
Benfica will now take part in the first qualifying round of the Basketball Champions League against Tbilisi on September 25 in Turkey, and for this reason they have postponed their debut in the Portuguese league against Oliveirense.
Imortal travels to Angra do Heroísmo, Azores, to face Lusitânia in the first round of the national championship.
Game held at Palácio Multiusos de Odivelas, in Lisbon.
Benfica – Immortal, 93-75.
At halftime: 52-36.
Led by Sérgio Silva, Hugo Silva and Bruno Maciel, the teams lined up and scored:
– Benfica (93): José Silva (2), Trey Drechsel (17), Makram Romdhane (10), Toney Douglas (19) and Terrell Carter (16). Also playing: Aaron Broussard (9), José Barbosa, Diogo Gameiro, Betinho Gomes (10), Daniel Relvão (2) and Ivan Almeida (8).
Coach: Norberto Alves.
– Immortal (75): Trevond Barnes (9), André Silva (11), Ryan Weber (7), Cameron Copeland (17) and Jackson Stormo (19). Phil Taylor (8), Pedro Santos, Jason Catarino (1), Ricardo Mateus, Miguel Bastos (3) and Pedro Machado also played.
Coach: Bernardo Pires.
Scorers march: 21-15 (10 minutes), 52-36 (halftime), 68-55 (30 minutes) and 93-75 (final score).
Attendance: 965 spectators.
Source: DN
