Aaron Broussard was the game’s MVP with 26 points, six assists, five rebounds and one block. On the side of the ‘blue and whites’, Teyvon Myers was the star with 21 points, three rebounds and the same number of assists.
After being defeated in the journey to the João Rocha pavilion, against Sporting (86-82), Benfica could not afford to slip again. He came in at full speed, had some brilliant moments, but in the second half he lost his judgment and fell into outrageous three-point attempts that failed to materialize.
But it was, curiously enough, precisely with that ‘courage’ that the returning Toney Douglas and Ivan Almeida immediately took the first six points and showed Benfica where they were going.
More defensive and motivated, the Luz crest seemed to “smother” FC Porto, which experienced great difficulties in the transitions to attack. Proof of this is the fact that the ‘dragons’ only reached the 10th point when there were 02.53 minutes left before the end of the first quarter, and in the end they lost 27-16 at the end of the 10 minutes.
With this cushion of 11 points, rising to 20, the players led by Norberto Alves played comfortably after 15 minutes (48-28) against an FC Porto so uninspired that it seemed to be absent. -40.
In the second half, Fernando Sá’s men were shaken up, with the triple by Max Landis and Michael Fink signaling that the game was needed.
With both teams looking to score, the ‘dragons’ threw themselves at the ‘eagles’ and managed to cut the deficit to 10 points (70-57), bringing the national champions into play, who were at the end of the game. third half won by 74-62.
In the last fifteen minutes it was the spectators who woke up: they gave warmth to the game and the show won. Interestingly, it was up to the FC Porto coach to ‘call’ the crowd’s reaction, with a clear idea to stir up the ‘blue and whites’ even more, as the triumph was still possible, after all, at a time when Benfica won by 10 points (79-69).
Midway through the fourth quarter, Max Landis would be ruled out when he committed the fifth foul, coinciding with new growth in the game by the incarnates, spurred on by Ivan “the terrible” Almeida, who scored nine runs from pitch (even reaching ‘flying’ with his back to the basket and scored two points).
Competition held at Pavilhão Fidelidade, in Estádio da Luz, in Lisbon.
Benfica-FC Porto: 99-75.
At rest: 60-40.
Under the refereeing of Sérgio Silva, José Abreu and Pedro Maia, the teams lined up and scored:
– Benfica (99): Aaron Broussard (26), João ‘Betinho’ Gomes (5), Tooney Douglas (17), Terrell Carter II (3) and Ivan Almdeia (25). Also playing: José Silva (2), Makram Romdhane (7), Diogo Gameiro (10) and Maik Zirbes (4).
Trainer: Norberto Alves.
– FC Porto (75): Teyvon Meyers (21), Max Landis (11), Marvin Clark Jr. (9), Brian Conklin (14) and Michael Finke (9). Also playing: Miguel Maria (6), Vladislav Voyto (3), Francisco Amarante, João Guerreiro, Miguel Queiroz (2) and Luís Silva.
Trainer: Fernando Sa.
Scoreboard March: 27-16 (10 minutes), 60-40 (halftime), 74-62 (30) and 99-75 (final result).
Attendance: about 1,900 spectators.
Source: DN
