Friends enter the League over a hundred

The CAB men's team began their participation in this year's edition of the Portuguese League with a game out against Sampaense formation. Certainly, the Sampaense was not the preferred opponent of Friends, as they constitute a difficult journey for all teams, this situation, aggravated by the constraints inherent in all trips off the island. Still, the game began best for the Madeirans, who won the first period by 24-31. In what was the first competitive fight of the CAB, because João Paulo Silva's team did not perform any preparation game, the CAB showed good moments of basketball, guided by offensive versatility and a general understanding among the players. The advantage of the CAB during the first half came to have interesting values, but a reaction of the formation of the house at the end of the first ten minutes prevented a greater punctual difference. In the second half, the CAB entered well and very aggressively. Proof of this is the fact that, after three minutes, Friends already dealt for 10 points (31-41), with contributions from virtually all players. The CAB did not slow down the pace, and five minutes later, it was mastering the scorer by 17 points of difference (36-53), asserting its superiority in the game, not only in the attack, but also in the fight for the tables, with natural emphasis on the performance of the players who act in the positions closest to the basket. The interval arrived with the marker in 40-56, in favor of the Madeirans. By the CAB, the right ones were Michael L'Africain (11), Stefan Djukic (11) and Fred Gentry (12). In the Sampaense, the most effective were Pavlovic (8) and Ognjenovic (11). On the return of the locker rooms, the CAB came back better, and, with four minutes of play, the advantage in the scorer already exceeded the twenty points (44-65), numbers that rewarded the good selection of Friends releases and their good collective work. Three consecutive times followed by the Madeirans, who took the result to 48-71, with four minutes to play. By the end of the third period, the CAB kept its domain in the tables, which was fundamental for the whole game to flow better from there. Once again, CAB's inner players played an important role, not only for the points they won, but also for the spaces they created in the opposing defense. All this allowed, at the end of the third half, the Madeirans to lead by 60-85. In the last time, the rhythm and intensity of the game decreased somewhat. Even so, the Friends managed to preserve their superiority, applying themselves in depth for this, because the Sampaense was always a strong opponent and very fighter. There was a good basketball game, with both teams dignifying the sport. In fairness, however, the victory was the CAB for 79-111. In individual terms: Fred Gentry (20), Fabio Lima (20), Jose Correia (3), Michael L'Africain (17), Alex Marzette (18), Arvydas Gydra (8), Bruno Cavalcante (2), Carlos Bettencourt (4), Stefan Djukic (19).