Faced with elimination from the Basketball Champions League Americas quarterfinals on their home floor in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, Minas needed a hero—and they found one in their young point guard Franco Baralle, as the hosts pulled away late and evened the series 1 game apiece with a 79-70 win over Instituto.
After the teams combined for a dismal 8-of-49 shooting performance from three-point range on Saturday in Cordoba, Argentina, they combined to hit 8 of their first 9 attempts from outside in the first quarter as the home side took a 28-23 lead at the end of the period.
After Minas took a 7-point lead on a Winicius Silva bucket to open the second quarter, Instituto clamped down defensively in and held Minas to just 9 more points and tied the game at 39 heading into half time.
Instituto opened the third quarter with a 7-0 run to take their biggest lead of the game, but a Jeremy Hollowell triple tied the game at 47 with 5:06 to play in the period. The two teams stayed close until Scott Machado hit a three-pointer followed by a floater in the lane as the third quarter horn sounded to give Minas a 59-53 lead heading into the fourth.
Another Machado bomb gave Minas a 62-55 lead, but back-to-back triples by Lee Aaliya and Emmitt Holt cut the lead back to 1 at 62-61 with 7:45 to play. The visitors had a golden opportunity to take the lead at the 7:27 mark, as Hollowell was whistled for an unsportsmanlike foul after inadvertently hitting Instituto’s Nicola Pomoli in the face. Down 62-61, Pomoli missed both free throws, and then travelled on the ensuing possession to turn the ball over. Minas responded with a pair of threes by Baralle and Rafa Mineiro to push the lead back to 7.
A Lee Aaliya trey would cut the lead to 70-67 with 3:10 to play, but Instituto would get no closer. Baralle closed out the game with a pair of layups and another triple to extend the series one more night.
Game 3 is scheduled for Thursday at Minas. The winner will advance to the semi-finals in April.
