Río Breogán closed out its preseason at home in style. The team defeated Boca Juniors 116-82 in the X Torneo Lugo É Basket, organized by the Asociación Xuvenil Sagrado Corazón, and claimed the trophy with an outstanding second half performance.
It was the last game in front of their home crowd before the league season begins, which arrives on Sunday, September 27 at home against Asisa Joventut at 12:00. But before that comes a European stop: on Monday, the team travels to Samokov to face Rilski Sportist in the Round of 16 of the Basketball Champions League.
A balanced first half
The start was a feeling-out process, with some early inaccuracy from Breogán that Boca took advantage of to go ahead (4-8). A corner three-pointer from Kasibabu at the buzzer woke up the arena and, little by little, with Tevin Brown leading the way, the home team began to equalize. The first quarter ended 24-25.
The Argentine team relied on defensive aggression and rebounding to stay afloat, while Danko Brankovic made an impact on both ends of the floor. Neither team could pull away: 37-36 at the 17-minute mark, with both teams in the bonus and struggling with accuracy. A dunk from Aleksa Ilic and a three-pointer from Andric left the score at 46-43 at halftime.
And a devastating third quarter
The intermission changed the game. In just one minute, an alley-oop from Brankovic forced a timeout from coach Nicolás Casalánguida with the score at 53-43, and from there came the onslaught: 67-49 at the 24-minute mark and 77-53 before the end of the third quarter, with a 6-for-7 performance from three-point range in that quarter alone.
Brankovic delivered his best stretch of the summer and the rest of the team followed suit. Casimiro took the opportunity to test different combinations—Kasibabu at power forward alongside Ilic, Sani at power forward—without the team losing momentum. Two three-pointers from Andric pushed the score to 92-64, and with Mavra and Brown leading the charge, the lead reached 105-73.
Boca, the defending champion of the BCL Américas, held on with pride until the final 116-82 score.
What the summer showed
Breogán closes its preseason at home with an excellent record: victories over Sporting CP, Real Madrid, KK Mega Basket, and now Boca, with the only loss coming in the Copa Galicia final against Leyma Coruña.
Most notably, beyond the results, is that the team's identity is already defined: high pace, ball movement seeking open shots, and high volume from three-point range. It has been the hallmark of every game this summer.
Now comes the serious part. Monday, Bulgaria.