For the fifth consecutive season, Sporting will compete in European competitions. After a draw (69-69) in Belgium in the first leg, the Lions succeeded in winning (79-72) today, Friday, over Spiro Charleroi, thus qualifying for the group stage of the FIBA European Cup, the third division of basketball. On the ancient continent. The first goal of the season was achieved for Luis Magalhaes' side, which is a good sign ahead of the tournament kicking off on October 5 in Immortal.
This was only the second match this season for the Lions against a team that is already competing in the Belgian Championship. But the difference in speed was not so noticeable in the legs, where Sporting showed a great deal of defensive ability in the 5 x 5, although they needed to complement this with more defensive rebounds, above all, initially.
Spiro led by 3:04 minutes, an advantage achieved in the first half. The biggest score was 13-10, and Sporting quickly equalized at the end of the first ten minutes (23-18).
After that, the match lost some clarity, with many mistakes by both teams, which explains the low numbers (14-15) in the second half. At the time, Sporting's shot accuracy was 40%, compared to just 27% for the Belgian team.
After the break, the Lions once again showed great efficiency on defense, while also improving on their shots at the basket. Kenneth Funderburk, Nick Ward and Reggie Johnson, the North American trio that anchored Alvalade's squad, were responsible for 27 points in the third period. These are the players to keep a close eye on this season in Portugal.
The Green Team led by 11 points (55-44), which Spiro responded to shortly after with consecutive threes (58-53). At the buzzer, Funderburk hit a hat-trick to give the home team a ten-point lead (64-54) heading into the final round. After that, Sporting looked better again, only allowing the gap to be reduced to ten points in the end.
The team led by Luis Magalhaes this season once again joins FC Porto in the competition and will enter Group D, alongside Italians Dinamo Sassari, Turks Aliaga Petkem and Poles Anwiel Wlocklawek.
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