After winning the derby for the championship, Sporting beat Porto again, with a difference (66-58), on Saturday, this time, in the Portuguese Basketball Cup semi-finals, in the municipal wing of Povira, which hosted the final match. Eight in the race this weekend.
In a contested physical match, it was Sporting who came out better, with 7 points (13-6), in the first five minutes of the match. On the other hand, FC Porto was not inspired by the attack and faced some difficulties in their internal match. The Lions won the first quarter by 7 points, 21-14. In the second quarter, Sporting took advantage of 12 points, but the Dragon responded by scoring free throws and were able to reduce the damage in the mark, and they reached the first half by only one point over the Lions, 32-31.
Sporting started better in resuming the match and Porto made more defensive errors, allowing the Lions to lead by 8 points, 41-33. But Landis opens the three-pointer and two-point book and reduces the Dragon’s disadvantage by two points, 41-39. Luis Magalhaes responded with a hat-trick from Joao Fernandez and also came out on top in the third quarter (48-41).
Recently, the lions managed to achieve the result. The Dragons were more effective at the free throw line, but they couldn’t find solutions to counteract Leonin’s dominance on the attack. At 8 seconds left, one player from each team was sent off, Travant Williams by the Lions and Joao Soares by the Dragons. Diogo Ventura called the free-throw line and scored two throws and closed the game 66-58.
Williams (17 points; 3 points; 5 points); Joshua Button (12 points; 3 points) and Diogo Ventura (9 points; 5 points; 6 points) were Sporting’s highlights. On the side of FC Porto, Max Landis stands out (16 points: 1 point; 1 point); Rashard Odomes (13 points; 4 rts; 3 st) and Charlton Kloof (11 points; 3 rts; 7 st).
