Instituto are on to the Basketball Champions League Americas semi-finals after a 79-74 win over Minas at Minas Tenis Clube in Belo Horizonte, Brazil Thursday night.
The visitors jumped out to an 11-point lead 32-21 after the first quarter, thanks to shooting 6-of-7 from three-point range. Nicola Pomoli tallied 9 in the period for Instituto.
But the hosts roared back with a 13-0 run to start the second quarter, taking a 34-32 lead on a three-pointer by Jeremy Hollowell with 3:22 to play. The teams traded the lead back and forth until Alex Negrete hit a triple and a layup in the final moments of the half to give Instituto a 42-40 lead at the break.
Instituto looked like they were going to run away with it in the third. A Negrete layup with 1:44 to play in the quarter gave the Argentines a 16-point lead at 63-47 before taking a 65-50 lead into the fourth.
Minas, however, would answer again, as Juan Arengo tried to put the team on his back. A pair of three pointers and then two free throws with 4:50 to play got Minas to within 4 at 71-67. And then, with :50 to play, a pair of Rafa Mineiro free throws cut the lead to 3 at 77-74. Bautista Lugarini sealed the win for Instituto, however, with a pair of free throws of his own with :09.9 to play.
Nicola Pomoli had 21 points for Instituto, while Lugarini had 18 points and 8 rebounds. Negrete added 12. Arengo led Minas with 19 points on 4-of-8 shooting from three-point range. Hollowell tallied 15 points and 8 rebounds, while Wednesday’s hero for Minas, Franco Baralle, had 11. Mineiro tacked on 10 points and 8 boards.
Instituto advance to the semi-finals in April for the first time since 2020.
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