Libertad Sunchales: 58 (13+16+13+16)
Starters: Diego Alba (7), Diego Cavaco (6), Cleotis Brown (8), Andres Pelussi (12), Robert Battle (13). Off the bench: Leopoldo Ruiz Moreno (5), Martin Muller (2), Jorge Benitez (3), and Marcos Saglietti (2).
Coach: Carlos Bualo.
Sources: Libertad Sunchales web, Francabasquetebol web

  LSB: Libertad beats Franca in the 2nd game of the Finals - Apr. 27, 2007 
Despite Derrick Lang's injury, Franca was able to improve its performance from last Tuesday evening. However, the Brazilians couldn't avoid anoter loss in the Finals to Libertad Sunchales (69-54). The Brazilian squad replaced the American guard with Matheus and played a stronger game defensively. However, Libertad was still able to put on a 23 point performance on the first quarter, which gave the hosts a 9 point lead after 10 minutes.
Diego Cavaco and Robert Batlle were the key names of Carlos Bualo last evening. While Cavaco hit his shots, Battle posted up against Franca's frontcourt and dominated the game in the paint. Franca evened the game in the second quarter, but in the third it scored only 7 points, which enabled Libertad to start the last quarter of play 22 points ahead (60-38).
With 3,500 fans chanting from the top of their lungs it was hard for Coach Helio Rubens to make something out of the situation. Franca did play better in the last 10 minutes but the 22 point differential was too long of a road to be traveled in such a small period of time. 'Murilo' da Rosa (207-C-83) was the top scorer for the Brazilians with 13 points.
Libertad won by the score of 69 to 54 and will only have to win one of its games in Franca. The Brazilians have a difficult assignment against Assis in the Paulista League Finals this weekend and the result of this game will impact the team's performance in the Liga Sudamericana.
Box Score:
Libertad Sunchales: 69 (23+19+18+9)
Starters: Diego Alba (5), Diego Cavaco (15), Cleotis Brown (12), Andres Pelussi (9), Robert Battle (17). Off the bench: Leopoldo Ruiz Moreno (4), Martin Muller (2), Jorge Benitez (5), Marcos Saglietti (-), and Pablo Moya (-).
Coach: Carlos Bualo.
Franca Basquetebol: 54 (14+17+7+16)
Starters: Helinho (6), Matheus (9), Rogerio Klafke (11), Murilo (13), and Estevam (12). Off the bench: Caue (-), Zezinho (-), William Drudi (-) e Rafael Mineiro (3).
Coach: Helio Rubens.
Sources: Libertad Sunchales / Clarin / El Pais

  LSB: Libertad crushes Franca in the opening game of the Finals - Apr. 26, 2007 
Last night, in Sunchales, Argentina, Cleotis Brown (198-G/F-77, college: Illinois) was unstoppable scoring 24 points in a 90-69 victory of Libertad over Franca. The Argentinians were superior througout the first three quarters with the Brazilian squad matching it up late in the fourth, when Libertad used most of its bench player.
Andres Pelussi scored 15 points, and Jorge Benitez came off the bench to add 13. Murilo was the top scorer for Coach Helio Rubens with 23 while Rogerio Klafke hit his clutch shots from outside to finish with 15. Both teams will rematch on Thursday in Sunchales before the series move to Franca in Brazil.
Box Score:
Libertad Sunchales: 90 (26+27+20+19)
Starters: Diego Alba (9), Diego Cavaco (10), Cleotis Brown (24), Andres Pelussi (15), Robert Battle (6). Off the bench: Leopoldo Ruiz Moreno (4), Martin Muller (7), Jorge Benitez (13), Marcos Saglietti (-), Pablo Moya (2), and Nicolas Pairone (-).
Coach: Carlos Bualo.
Franca Basquetebol: 69 (16+19+12+22)
Starters: Helinho (2), Derrick Lang (5), Rogerio Klafke (15), Murilo (23), and Estevam (10). Off the bench: Caue (4), Matheus (5), Zezinho (2), William Drudi (3) e Rafael Mineiro (-).
Coach: Helio Rubens.

  LSB: Franca is in the final - Apr. 6, 2007 
Franca beat Ben-Hur for the second time in a row and got its ticket to the final playoffs last night at Pedrocao. The Brazilians topped the Argentinians by 15 points (78-63) and will now face Libertad Sunchales in the finals.
Mateus had 19 points, 'William' Drudi (204-C-81) recorded 15 points and 15 boards, and Rogerio Klafke added 15 points and 9 rebounds. “To be able to reach the finals of an international competition is just sensational, specially when you have a crowd like this (Franca) backing you up”, said Coach Rubens
Source: Francabasquetebol.com.br

  Libertad to the Final - Apr. 5, 2007 
Libertad Sunchales advanced to Liga Sudamericana 2007 finals after beating Gimnasia Esgrima Comodoro Rivadavia 70-55. Cleotis Brown (198-G/F-77, college: Illinois) finished with 18 points and 6 rebounds and Robert Battle (200-C-81, college: Drexel) added 19 points and 13 rebounds. In gimnasia Ruperto Herrera (202-F-72) scored 16 points and had 10 rebounds.

  Libertad wins the second game - Apr. 4, 2007 
Libertad Sunchales defeated Gimnasia Esgrima Comodoro Rivadavia in the second game of one of the 'Liga Sudamericana 07' Semifinals. Libertad ended with 11/23 in 3 points shoots and with an outstanding Cleotis Brown (198-G/F-77, college: Illinois). Tonight will be played the last game deciding who will advance to the final.
Libertad (89): Diego Alba (186-G-81) 12, Diego Cavaco 5, Cleotis Brown 20, Robert Battle (200-C-81, college: Drexel) 18, Andres Pelussi 10 (FI), Leopoldo Ruiz Moreno 0, Martin Muller 2, Jorge Benitez 14, Pablo Moya 2, Marcos Saglietti 6, Nicolas Pairone 0. Coach: Carlos Bualo.
Gimnasia y Esgrima de Comodoro Rivadavia (67): Gabriel Cocha 7, Pablo Moldu 0, Charles Jones 6, Leandro Masieri (201-F-76) 9, Ruperto Herrera 4 (FI), Jervaughn Scales (200-F-71, college: Southern) 16, Nicolas De los Santos 6, Ignacio Alessio 8 (x), Matias Subiabre 3, Eloy Martin 5, Santiago Haag 3. Coach: Fernando Duro.

  Gimnasia won the first - Mar. 30, 2007 
Gimnasia Esgrima Comodoro Rivadavia defeated Libertad Sunchales 70:65 in the first game of one of the semifinals of Liga Sudamericana 2007. Libertad started with an amazing 18-0 run but then gimnasia answered with a 23-2 run. Incredible. In the second time, the foreigners of Libertad were not as well as ever and Gimnasia took advantage of this with a great job of Gabriel cocha and Pablo Moldu (191-G-78).
Gimnasia: Pablo Moldu 20 Gabriel Cocha (194-G-71) 19 Leandro Masieri (201-F-76) 12
Libertad: Cleotis Brown (198-G/F-77, college: Illinois) 18 Robert Battle (200-C-81, college: Drexel) 15

*Damon Thornton, of Gimnasia even was in the court. It seems that the foreigner player had a familiar problem and will return to USA.

  South American League: Ben Hur win Game 1 - Mar. 27, 2007 
Ben Hur defended its Rafaela's court by beating Franca from Brazil 82-68 in gameone of the South American League semi finals, Eduardo Villares scored 20 points and Damian Tintorelli, recovering from an injury added 19, and Elias Saad added 22 coming off the bench. Matheus was Franca's leading scorer with 20.Game two and eventual three will be played in San Pablo next week. Gimnasia (comodoro Rivadavia) will host Libertad Wednesday Night for game 1 of the other semifinal in a rematch of last season local league finals.

  Liga Sudamericana 2007: SemiFinals - Mar. 22, 2007 
Gimnasia Esgrima Comodoro Rivadavia (argentina) - Libertad Sunchales (argentina)
Ben Hur Rafaela (argentina) - Franca Sao Paulo (brazil)
Best of three games.
Series start on March 27

  Ben hur advances to semifinals - Mar. 22, 2007 
Ben Hur Rafaela suffered a lot but finally defeated Provincial Osorno 76:74 and advanced to the semifinals of Liga sudamericana 2007. Osorno has three chances to win the game but they could not do it. Fabian Elias Saad (187-G-83) from the bench was the best of Ben Hur Rafaela with 24 points. Eduardo Villares (186-G-79) and Jonathan Machuca (184-G-89) added 15 each. Chris Jeffries (199-F-80, agency: ABE! Sports and Entertainment, college: Wash.-St.Louis) 23 and Erik Carrasco (181-G-83) 19 in Osorno.

  Results for the South American League  - Mar. 21, 2007 
Franca (Brazil), Libertad Sunchales (Argentina) and Gimnasia Esgrima CR (Argentina) advanced to the semifinal for the South American League, while Ben Hur (Argentina) and Osorno (Chle) will decided today the other spot. The last night results were:
Franca 95 Olimpia (Uruguay) 70 - Franca won 2-0
Libertad 106 Malvin 81 - Libertad won 2-0
Gimnasia Esgrima CR 90 Rio Claro 8'0 - Gimnasia won 2-0
Ben Hur 91 Osorno 63 - The serie is tied 1-1.

  Franca beat Olimpia 81-70 - Mar. 15, 2007 
Franca with a 11-0 run at the beginning of the third quarter took the lead over Olimpia and for the rest of game maintained a 10/12 points lead to win 81-70 in the first leg of the best-of-three South American League quarter final. Murilo scored 20 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for Franca. 
The second game will be player March 20 at Franca. By quarters Franca 20-19, 37-34, 59-47.
OLIMPIA - Nathan Mielke 6, Mauro Tornaria 14, Andres San Miguel 2, Diego Losada 12, Sebastian Leguizamon 0, Alejandro Perez 13, Pablo Rak 10, Omar GAleano 2, Reque Newsome 11. HC Miguel Volcan
FRANCA - Mateus 13, Estevam 4, Lang 11, Helinho 11, Zezinho 0, Rogerio 12, Drudi 10, Murilo 20 HC Helio Rubens

  LSB: Osorno take the lead - Mar. 15, 2007 
Provincial Osorno defeated Ben Hur(ARG) 91-85 in game 1 of their quarterfinals series against the reigning champion of LSB. The figure of tuesday night was the the combo guard Erik Carrasco, who scored 19 point coming off the bench. Also, the forward Cristian Perez and the center Tiago da Lima were key players in last quarter's run from the host team, with four 3 point fg and 5 offensive rebounds respectively. For the visitors, the american forward William McFarland was the offensive leader with 30 points.
Provincial Osorno 91 - Ben Hur 85
Oso: Chris Jeffries 23 points Erik Carrasco 19 pts. / Ben: William McFarland 30 points. Lucas Picarelli 12 pts.

  Libertad Sunchales beat Malvin 83-79 - Mar. 14, 2007 
Cleotis Brown (198-G/F-77, college: Illinois) netted a two point shot and a free throw, with 11 seconds to play, and Libertad de Sunchales beat Malvin 83-79 to take a 1-0 lead for the best-of-three South American League quarter final serie. Libertad de Sunchales had a 11 point lead (75-64) with 5.45 to play. But Malvin scored a 15-5 run and was losing for just one point (80-79) with 55 seconds to play. The second game will be player in Sunchales, March 20th.
MALVIN - Pablo Viera 9, MArcelo Perez 8, Bruno Fittipaldo 1, Joaquin Izuibejeres 34, Alfonso Gonzalez 0, Emilio Taboada 11, Enrique Elhordoy 1, Kim Adams 2, Pablo Morales 15, fernando Martonez 35, Sekanis Francis 2. HC Pablo lopez
LIBERTAD - Diego Alba 6, Nicolas Pairone 0, Leopoldo Ruiz MOreno 8, Jorge Benitez 9, Martin Muller 10, Andres Pelussi 4, MArcos Saglieti 0, Cleotis Brown 17, Diego Cavaco 5, Pablo moya 0, Robert Battle 24 HC Carlos Bualo.

  LSB: Gimnasia defeats Rio Claro in Brazil - Mar. 14, 2007 
Rio Claro didn't give up easily to the current Argentinean National Champions, however, after 40 minutes of regular time and 5 of overtime, Gimnasia came up at the top. The Argentineans won the game by the score or 77 to 72, and opened the quarter final playoff series with an important away win. Both teams will square off again on March 20th, but this time in Comodoro RIvadavia, Patagonia.

  New dates for Malvin-Libertad and Olimpia-Franca - Mar. 8, 2007 
Malvin (uruguay) and Libertad Sunchales (Argentina) will play their first game for the South American quarter finals Wednesday 15 in Montevideo, while Olimpia (Uruguay) and Franca (Brazil) are scheduled to play on Thursday 16, also in the Uruguayan capital city, it was officially announced. The second games will ba played in Sunchales and Franca March 20th.

  Dates for the quarter finals were announced - Mar. 6, 2007 
The South American quarter finals will begin March 13th with three games: Rio Claro-Gimnasia y Esgrima, Malvin-Libertad and Osorno- Ben Hur. The first game Olimpia-Franca will be played March 15.
The second games will be played March 20th and if a third game is needed it will take place March 21th, it was announced officially in Montevideo.
The local autorities said the are looking for a postponement for 24 hours for the first game Malvin-Libertad.

  Quarter Finals - Mar. 5, 2007 
Gimnasia Esgrima Comodoro Rivadavia (argetnina) - Bandeiras / Rio Claro  (brazil)
Ben Hur Rafaela  (argetnina)- Provincial Osorno  (chile)
Deportivo Libertad (argetnina) - Malvin (uruguay)
Franca Sao Paulo (brazil) - Club Atletico Olimpia (uruguay)
Start on March 13 (best of three games)

  Ben hur defeats Rio Claro - Mar. 5, 2007 
Ben Hur Rafaela finished first in the Group B of Liga Sudamericana 2007 after beating in the last round 89-54 to Rio Claro Brazil. Walter Storani (200-F/C-70) scored 19 points and Eduardo Villares (186-G-79) william mcfarlan and terrence hill added 12 each. Marcio scored 16 for brazilian team.

  LSB: Ben-Hur beats Rio Claro, but the Brazilians are in the next round - Mar. 5, 2007 
Last night in Rafela, Argentina, Ben-Hur dominated the game against Rio Claro, and took the lead early in the game. Playing at Coliseo del Sur, Ben Hur defeated Rio Claro by the score of 89 to 54, and finished the group stage in first position.
The Brazilians played a very low scoring second half enabling the Argentineans to widen the gap on the scoreboard. Storani was the top scorer for the Argentineans while Marcio finished the game with 16 points for the Brazilians.
The Argentineans will now face Provincial Osorno of Chile in the quarter finals while Coach Guerra, and his squad will square off against Gimnasia y Esgrima from Comodoro Rivadavia, Patagonia.
Box Score

Ben-Hur 89 (22+18+24+25)
Picarelli 7, Villares 12, Hill 12, Mc Farlan 12 e Tintorelli 11, Machuca, Saad 6, Calvelli 10 e Storani 19
Coach: Julio Lamas.
Bandeirantes/Rio Claro 54 (16+17+11+10)
Vinicius 0, Cesar 5, Soro 0, Rodrigo 9, Demetrius 6, Bruno 0, Daniel 0, Atilio 0, Bruno Fiorotto 2, Felipe 14, Marcio 16, Fernando 2
Coach: Jose Guerra.

  LSB: Franca defeats Malvin, and will face Olimpia in the quarters - Mar. 5, 2007 
Malvin showed a solid system, and proved to be Franca's most difficult challenge in the group stage of 2007 LSB. Both teams exchanged positions in the lead, until Malvin missed key free throws at the end while Franca was able to hit crucial shots, and come up with the win by the score of 73 to 64.
Malvin ended the first quarter ahead (11-14), and focused its plays on American post players Francis, and Adams. Franca did the same, and concentrated most of its plays on Murilo's, and Estevam's hands. Murilo worked well on the post to put Franca 3 points ahead (7-4), but Francis, and Adams scored the next two baskets moving Malvin up (7-8). At the end of the quarter Martinez drove to basket, missed the shot, but collected a loose rebound by Adams, and put Malvin ahead.
Franca trailed Malvin for almost 4 minutes before taking the lead again on a nice three pointer by Helinho (24-21) which forced Coach Lopez to call a time out, and give his athletes a little speech. Lopez was emphatic syaing that Malvin couldn't try to run the ball as fast as Franca otherwise they would be beat. “This is Brazilian basketball, we play an European style”, yelled Lopez to his players, hoping that they would slow the pace of the game, and not let Franca run its system.
Back in court Morales hit a three pointer (24-24), but Rogerio, and Murilo made sure Franca stayed ahead scoring back to back baskets (28-26). In the final two minutes Franca went on a 7-2 run powered by a 3 point play by Estevam. The Brazilian forward asked for the ball on the low post, spinned quickly over Adams, and went for the dunk even with two Uruguayans covering the paint. He leveled the ball over his opponents, and got the basket.
Fransergio twisted his knee severely on a drive to the basket, and that seemed to put the ‘Francanos' a little off. Malvin went on a 5-0 run to finish the quarter on great plays. First Martinez found Adams on a lob pass to a nice alley-oop while Taboada went one on one to score the final basket, and send the game to halftime with Franca leading by just two points (35-33).
The third quarter was very low in scoring, and Franca gave up the lead at mid quarter. Back to back baskets by Izuibejeres, Taboada, and Martinez put the Uruguayans ahead by 1 (42-43), and forced Helio Rubens to call a time out. Franca's coach asked his players to play more aggresively on defense during the final four minutes, and back on court Rogerio, and Mateus scored 6 consecutive points regaining the lead (50-43).
Murilo got into foul trouble (his fourth) when he fouled Taboada (52-46), and Franca had to play without one of its main assets throughout the last quarter. Morales took advantage of the situation, and on a key three pointer put Malvin within 4 points (54-50). Taboada drained another bomb from long distance to put the Uruguayans back into the game (54-53), but from that point on both teams exchanged baskets.
However, with Drudi, and Estevam hitting back to back shots pulling Franca 6 points ahead (60-54), Coach Lopez called for another time out. Adams missed two free throws when the game resumed, and Drudi hit an amazing three pointer at the buzzer putting the crowd into the game (63-56). From that point on Malvin lost its momentum, and Franca was able to hit its shots putting the game away. Taboada, and Adams missed key free throws, and Franca won the game by 9 points (73-64).
At the end of the game Helinho praised the Uruguayan squad, “They work the ball over at least 18 seconds on every play, and the game becomes difficult. It's very hard to find a team that plays this way in Brazil”, said Franca's main point guard. Helinho, 21 points, and Estevam, 13, were the top players for Coach Rubens, while Taboada, 22, and Martinez, 17, led the Uruguayans. Franca will now face Olimpia, another Uruguayan squad, in the quarter finals, while Malvin squares off against Libertad Sunchales of Argentina.
Box Score:

Unimed/Franca 73 (11+24+15+24)
Starters: Helinho 21, Lang 5, Rogerio 9, Murilo 9, Estevam 13; Off the bench: Drudi 9, Mateus 7, and Fransergio.
Coach: Helio Rubens
Malvin 64 (14+19+10+21)
Starters: Martinez 17, Viera 2, Taboada 22, Francis 4, and Adams 9. Off the bench: Izuibejeres 4, Morales 6, Gonzalez, and Perez.
Coach: Pablo Lopez

  Franca defeated Malvin - Mar. 5, 2007 
Franca Brazil) defeated Malvin (Uruguay) 74-64 to won first place for South American League Group C. Helio with 21 points was the best scorer for the Brazilian team while Emilio Taboada netted 22 for the Uruguayans. For the quarter final games Franca will play Olimpia (Uruguay) and Malvin with Liberatd Sunchales (Argentina).

  Ben hur and Rio claro are in Quarter-finals - Mar. 4, 2007 
ben hur rafaela and rio claro won their games of the second round in the Group B and advanced to the quarter-finals of the Liga sudamericana. ben hur overcame felix perez cardozo 93:43 and rio claro beat deportivo nonis 115:44. Two easy victories.
Ben Hur Rafaela (28-44-71): Lucas Picarelli 3, Eduardo Villares 8, Terrence Hill 8, William McFarlan (201-F-76, college: St.Thomas Aquinas) 13, Damian Tintorelli (202-C-81, agency: Players Group) 19 (fi); Fabian Elias Saad (187-G-83) 11, Eduardo Calvelli (195-G-82) 7, Felipe Ederra 5, Walter Storani 0, Jonathan Machuca (184-G-89) 8, Sebastian Uranga (200-F/C-89) 9 y Leandro Cecchi 2. coach: Julio Lamas.
Felix Perez Cardozo Asuncion (13-23-29): Diego Gonzalez 2, Sergio Aceval 7, Aldo Acosta 9, Daniel Talavera 4, Juliano Rivera 10 (fi); Anderson Villamayor 4, Emanuel Garcia 2, Renzo Orve 0, Sergio Lopez 0, Diego Lopez 0 y Rodrigo Lopez 5. coach: Juan Pablo Feliu.
Bandeiras / Rio Claro (37-69-90): Bruno 3, Fernando 12, Luiz Felipe 31, Marcio 13, Atilio 9 (fi); Soro 24, Rodrigo 11, Vinicius 4, Cesar 3, Demetrius 3, Daniel 0 y Fiorotto 2. coach: Guerrinha.
Deportivo Nonis Santa Cruz (13-27-37): Livio Becerra 3, Luis Cabral 12, Miguel Gonzalez 0, Miguel Justiniano 10, Carlos Teran 16 (fi); Joaquin Sandoval 3 y German Zelada 0. coach: Pedro Martinez.

  LSB: Rio Claro qualifies to the next round after easy win - Mar. 4, 2007 
Rio Claro crushed Deportivo Nonis by the score of 115 to 44, and qualified to the next round of Liga Sudamericana. It will play its first real challenging game tonight against home team Ben-Hur de Rafaela. Last night the Argentinians didn't find any problems to post a 50 point win over Felix Cardozo (93 to 43).

  LSB: Franca gets its bid in the quarterfinal playoff round - Mar. 4, 2007 
Franca did its homework, and defeated Gatos de Monaguas last night in Franca by the score of 95 to 73. After a very tough first quarter where Gatos played an Argentinian style of basketball, moving the ball around tirelessly until finding the open shot, Franca cruised in the second. Gatos players forgot what made their game tough in the first period, and switched it to a series of ineffective individualistic performances that bust the door of victory open for Franca.
The first ten minutes were low in scoring period with both teams shooting poorly from the field. At the 5.30s mark the score was tied at 4 points, and Franca changed it when Murilo, on a nice spin move at the bottom of the key, finally it going (6-4). The Venezuelans came right back at it selecting the best shots before making any wild attempts. Morris was the go to guy throughout the quarter scoring 8 points, and along with Romel Beck, enabled Gatos to stay within reach after 10 minutes (16-14).
In the second quarter something really hit the Venezuelans that started commiting mistakes after mistakes. Morris was called with a technical on Helinho few minutes in the quarter. The Brazilian guard made his free throws, and when Brazil inbounded the ball Murilo was found for a thundering dunk that got the crowd going. Franca went on 14-4 run (30-18) before Coach Morillo called for a timeout. Nothing changed, and the Brazilians took off on another run (16-5) with Rogerio Klafke hitting shots from all over the field, and giving Franca a 22 point lead at the half (49-27).
Things got a little more competitive in the third, but nothing that could bother Franca's performance. Franca went on a 5-0 run to start, but the Venezuelans were able to score points back, making effective offensive plays. That was enough for Helio Rubens to call a timeout. On the way back Coach Morillo put their players pressing full court, which enabled a 6-0 run by Gatos (63-38). Mateus commited a few turnovers on carrying the ball down the court, so Helio Rubens formed a three man backcourt adding Helinho, and Lang to the line-up. Franca got the control of the game back to its hands, and finished off the quarter with a great alley-oop from Helinho to Lang (73-46).
In the last quarter Franca had a difficult time with Gatos' pressing defense, and saw the visitors win the quarter by a 4 point margin (23-27). With some of its younger players in court (Mineiro, and Zezinho), Gatos was able to force more turnovers. Zezinho, a Franca U19 point guard, and former member of the U19 NT, seemed to be a little nervous with the task at hand, and for several times couldn't reach midcourt before getting stripped by one his opponents. However, there wasn't much time for any wild comeback by the Venezuelans, and at the end Zezinho got some shots, and scored his points.
Franca won the game by 94 to 73 with an excellent performance by Helinho, Rogerio, who played only in the first half, Murilo, Lang, and 'William' Drudi (204-C-81), who came off the bench to score a double double with 16 points, and 10 rebounds. Romel Beck was the top scorer of the game with 19 points, and Morris came in second with 12. Coach Rubens' squad has qualified to the next round, and tonight it will play against Club Malvin in search of Group A's first position.
Box Score

Unimed/Franca 96 (16+33+24+23)
Starters: Helinho 16, Lang 15, Rogerio 15, Murilo 7, Estevam 11; Off the bench: Drudi 16, Mateus 8, Fransergio 1, Mineiro 4, Zezinho 3, and Tulio.
Coach: Helio Rubens
Gatos de Monaguas 73 (14+13+19+27)
Starters: Zerpa 1, Morris 12, Beck 19, Marin 2, and Trim 5. Off the bench: Kvietek 3, Yovera 8, Garcia 8, Diaz 2, Bassana 11, and Cabare 2.
Coach: Julio Morillo

  Malvin defeated San Jose 89-62 - Mar. 3, 2007 
Malvin won the second straigth game for the South American League Group C beating San Jose (Paraguay) 89-62. Fernando Martinez (170-G-79) scored 21 points and Joaquin Izuibejeres (184-G-82) add 15 for the winner, while Bruno Martinessi (202-F-81, college: Union Univ.) netted 15.

  Malvin beat Gatos 83-78 for Group C - Mar. 3, 2007 
Emilio Taboada (190-F-82) scored 28 points leading Malvin, the Uruguayan champions, to beat Gatos from Venezuela 83-78 in the opening game for Group C of the South American League, played in Franca. By quarters: Malvin 18-19, 36-32, 66-52. The best scorer for Gatos was Romel Beck (202-G/F-82, college: UNLV) with 29 points.

  Liga Sudamericana group B - Mar. 3, 2007 
Larry Parker, Nicolas Shattard and Wesley Fullen could not play in Deportivo nonis and ben hur took advantage of this situation for beating very easily 125:58 to Bolivian team. Coach Julio Lamas decided gave minutes to the young players.
Ben Hur Rafaela (34-58-82): Felipe Ederra 2, Eduardo Villares 15, Terrence Hill (196-G-82, college: Kennesaw St.) 18, William McFarlan 8, Damian Tintorelli (202-C-81, agency: Players Group) 20 (fi); Jonathan Machuca (184-G-89) 17, Leandro Cecchi (201-G/F-88) 13, Eduardo Calvelli 9, Walter Storani 6, Fabian Elias Saad 9, Sebastian Uranga 8, Lucas Picarelli 0. coach: Julio Lamas.
Nonis Santa Cruz (14-29-45): Livio Becerra 2, Luis Cabral 11, Miguel Gonzalez 2, Miguel Angel Justiniano (194-F-80) (x) 14, Carlos Teran (204-C-76) 25, (fi); Joaquin Sandoval 2, Carlos Cabral 0 y German Zelada 2. coach: Pedro Martinez
In the other game, Bandeiras / Rio Claro from Brazil beat Felix Perez from Paraguay 85.65
Bandeiras / Rio Claro (15-48-63): Demetrius 2, Rodrigo 11, Luiz Felipe 5, Marcio 14, Daniel 10 (fi); Vinicius 2, Cesar 13, Soro 9, Fernando 4, Atilio 0, Bruno 8 y Fiorotto 7. coach: Guerrinha.
Felix Perez Cardozo Asuncion (16-26-48): Diego Gonzalez 2, Sergio Aceval 15, Anderson Villamayor 14, Aldo Acosta 8, Juliano Rivera 17 (fi); Sergio Lopez 9, Diego Lopez 0 y Rodrigo Lopez 0. coach: Juan Pablo Feliu

  LSB: Rio Claro defeats Perez Cardoso without a problem - Mar. 3, 2007 
Rio Claro started off its LSB campaign on the good side after defeating Paraguayan side Perez Cardoso by 85 to 65. Tonight Rio Claro will face Deportivo Nonis from Bolivia, and the game shouldn't be a problem to Coach Jorge Guerra 's squad.
Last night the Bolivians lost to Ben-hur by 67 points (125-58), and couldn't count on their foreign players due to documentation, and paperwork issues. It hasn't been defined yet if Larry Parker, Nicholas Shattard, and Wesley Sullen will play on tonight's game against Rio Claro. However if one takes into consideration what happened last night in Franca, things might not change that much.

  LSB: Franca crushes American powered Deportivo San Jose - Mar. 2, 2007 
Despite the additions of former NBA Marc Strickland, and American journey men Calvin Morris, and Mark Williams, San Jose wasn't able to face Franca's stronger game, and sound offensive systems. Franca beat San Jose by 44 points (93-49), and took the lead of Group B standings.
While the Brazilian players passed the ball looking for the open man with in the best position to shoot, the Paraguayan squad relied on the one to one game by the Americans. However, the three foreigners were off target all night.
Franca started the game with its customary strong defense, and ellaborate offense with continuous passes. The Paraguayans, lost the ball at midcourt bedore Estevam dunked on an alley-oop by Lang (7-2). After that Franca cruised going on 11-2 run before former Atlanta Hawks forward Strickland hit a lay-up. Franca was ahead by 24 after 10 minutes (30-6).
The Brazilians lost a bit of its concentration, and let the opponents even the game out, however it was still easy for Helinho and company to control the game. The highlight of the second quarter came on another alley-oop pass by Mateus that Murilo finished off with a bank shot. At the half Franca led by 24 (50-26).
Third quarter came along, and so did any hopes of the Paraguayan squad to react. Morris, Strickland, and Williams were totally off, and Murilo took advantage to open up the quarter with a basket, and one shot from the charity stripe (53-26). Franca went on 20-4 run, and increased its lead to 42 on a trey by Helinho. At the buzzer Fransergio scored Franca's 79th point, and
In the last quarter of the game the youngsters came in, and showed what they got. Mineiro showed some really nice moves inside the pain driving to the basket, and hitting bank shots over the American forwards. He finished the game with 5 points.
On the other side of the court Strickland seemed not to have played in a while. On a post move over Drudi, the American guard went for a spin move, and besides travelling, charged the Brazilian forward who fell on Cauê's ankle twisting it pretty bad.
The game looked like a scrimmage until the buzzer beat, and gave Franca it's first win in the Liga after almost ten years of absence in the continental tournament (the team played its last Liga in 98). Final score: Franca 93, San Jose 49. Murilo had a double double with 19 points, and 10 rebounds, and was the man of the game.
“Our team didn't let them (Americans) play. Everybody gave its best, and ran around the court the whole game”, said 'Murilo' da Rosa (207-C-83) at the end of the game. The Brazilian center seemed motivated, and hopes to qualify to the next round. “We hope to play for the first place on Sunday”, analyzed the NT center.
Franca will now play Gatos de Monagua tomorrow at 6.00 PM while San Jose tries to keep its chances against current Uruguayan champions Malvin.
Box Score
Franca: 93 (30+20+29+14)
Top Scorers: Murilo 19, Lang 18, Helinho 15 e Rogerio Klajke 11
Coach: Helio Rubens
Deportivo San Jose: 49 (6+20+11+12)
Top Scorers: Strickland 12 e Mellori 11
Coach: Horacio Segui

  LSB (video): A little reminiscence for all Latin American basketball lovers - Mar. 2, 2007 
A few days ago 'Oscar' Schmidt (206-F-58), Brazilian basketball legend, turned 59 years old, and many Brazilian websites, including Globo.com, published great content referring to Schmidt's career. Well, reading through the pages of Rodrigo Alves' Rebote ( www.rebote.org ), and its new project 'Cestas de Ontem' (a project that values the history of basketball), I came across a video on Oscar's EC Sirio (Brazilian powerhouse back in the days) career.
The video works as a 'clip' of a 1979 game between EC Sirio, and Bosnia, for the World Club Championship of that year. Ibirapuera was crowded, and at the buzzer, EC Sirio players, and fans rushed to mid court in one of the greatest basketball celebrations in Brazil. What a Carnival... Back then I was only 4 years old, but I remember that evening's traffic around the Ibirapuera Arena. People chanted, and the sounds echoed through the streets of Paraiso. From Manuel da Nobrega to Abilio Soares there were people in love for our game walking into one of the most memorable evenings of Latin American basketball.
I feel that this video can put us into a new mode. That of valuing the Liga Sudamericana as a way of getting South American Club Basketball to the top international level. Libertad Sunchales, Franca, Olimpia, Benhur, Osorno, RIo Claro, Malvin, and so many other clubs in the continent might one day experience what Oscar, Marcel, Marquinhos Abdalla, and company experienced that night at Ibirapuera. I wish I could go back as a grown-up with my camera, so to capture every moment of that special date.
I love this game!!!
Enjoy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Pev1Q860hY

  Gimnasia and Libertad finished first in their groups - Mar. 1, 2007 
Gimnasia Esgrima Comodoro Rivadavia defeated provincial osorno 73:66 in the last round of group A. Gimnasia won their three games of the group and qualified to Quarter-finals. Gabriel Cocha (194-G-71) and Jervaughn Scales (200-F-71, college: Southern) were the best players of gimnasia.
Libertad Sunchales beat Universidad Concepcion in the last round 121.85 and won their group too. Cleotis Brown (198-G/F-77, college: Illinois) shined in the three games, and the youngs Marcos Saglietti (189-G-86) and Nicolas Pairone (197-F-87) helped a lot. 

  Clotis Brown voted as MVP - Mar. 1, 2007 
Cleotis Brown (198-G/F-77, college: Illinois), playing for Libertad Sunchales, was the MVP for Group D of the Sourth American League according to a poll by the journalistas attending the games. Other awards announced were Nathan Mielke (210-F-81, college: Wisc.-Milwaukee) as the best rebounder (11.6 rpg), Valter Silva as the best asistant (5 apg), and Cedric Moodie (187-G-78, college: Indianapolis (IN)) as the best scorer (23.3 ppg).
Libertad won the group with a 3.-0 record, Olimpia was second with 2-1, Uberlandia 1-2 and Concepcion 0-3.
  Olimpia also advanced to quarter finals - Mar. 1, 2007 
Olimpia (Uruguay) advanced to the second stage of the South American League after beating Uberlandia (Brazil) 90-71. Nathan Mielke (210-F-81, college: Wisc.-Milwaukee) with 20 points was the main scorer for the Uruguayan team, while 'Helio' Lima (188-G-81) scored 20. Olimpia won the three quarters 22-18, 50-32, 73-53. The winner of the grooup was Libertad de Sunchales with a 3-0 record after beating Universidad Concepcion (Chile) 121-85. Pablo Rak, from Olimpia, and Valtinho were expelled with one minute still to be played in the third quarter when the local team was wining 67-48.
OLIMPIA 90 - Rivero 2, Mielke 20, Vazquez 2, Tornaria 16, San Miguel 3, Losada 11, Pineiro 0, Leguizamon 0, Perez 13, Rak 8, Galeano 8, Newsome 8
UBERLANDIA - 'Helio' Lima 16, Douglas 0, Wagner 6, Patrick 3, Valtinho 10, Alfredo 6, Cambraia 14, Charls 3, Blackwell 13.
- - -
LIBERTAD 121 - Alba 7, Pairone 17, Benitez 12, Muller 8, Pelussi 8, Saglieti 15, Brown 18, Cavaco 21, Moya 9, Battle 6
CONCEPCION 85 - MArechal 2, Saez 13, Arteaga 9, Mendez 2 Ayala 0, Villagran 0, Campos 12, Hernandez 0, Valencia 2, Moodie 12, Kante 24, Truscott 9.

  LSB: Olimpia defeats Uberlandia, and ends the Brazilian's season - Feb. 28, 2007 
Olimpia defeated Uberlandia tonight in Montevideo by the score of 90 to 71. After a balanced first quarter the Uruguayans scored 28 points, against the Brazilians 14 in the second quarter. Olimpia held the advantage until the end, and qualified to the next round as the second team in the group (Libertad Sunchales finished as first after a easy game against U. de Concepcion).
Box Score
Olimpia: 91 (22+28+23+17)
Unitri/Uberlandia: 71 (18+14+21+19)
Source: Urubasket and Blog do Rogerio (Correio de Uberlandia)

  Libertad Sunchales advanced to the next round - Feb. 28, 2007 
Libertad de Sunchales, with 17 points by Leopoldo Carlos Ruiz Moreno (191-G-72, agency: Players Group) and 15 rebounds grabbed by Robert Battle (200-C-81, college: Drexel), advanced to the quarter finals games of the South American League after beating Olimpia (Uruguay) 73-68, as leader of the Group D. Olimpia and Uberlandia will play tonight for the second available spot. Valter Silva (187-G-77) scored a three-point shot as the finish of the game was announced and Uberlandia beat Univesridad Concepcion (Chile) 90-88. With eight second to play Blackwell scored a three point shot and Uberlandia was ahead 87-86, but with four second to play Cedric Moodie (187-G-78, college: Indianapolis (IN)) scored for Concepcion (88-87), and then Valtinho finished the game.
UBERLANDIA 90 - Helio 17, Duglas 0, Wagner 4, Patrick 0, Valtinho 21, Alfredo 2, Cambraia 5, Charles 13, Blackwell 28.
CONCEPCION 88 - MArechal 2, Saez 24, Campos 5, Valencia 7, Moodie 24, Kante 20, Truscott 6
- - -
LIBERTAD 73 - Alba 5, Ruiz Moreno 17,, Benitez 7, Muller 5, Pelussi 10, Saglietti 5, Cavaco 0, Moya 4, Battle 13.
OLIMPIA 68 - Rivero 0, Mielke 18, Vazquez 5, Tornaria 2, Losada 7, Alejandro Perez 4, Rak 8, Galeano 22, Newsome 2

  LSB: Uberlandia beats Universidad de Concepcion by 2 points - Feb. 28, 2007 
Unitri/Uberlandia 90-88 Universidad de Concepcion
The Brazilians had a hard time to defeat the Chilean squad last night in Montevideo. The Chileans led by as many as 15 points in the second quarter, and for a while it looked like Uberlandia would be out of the competition as early as the second round of group stage.
Cedric Moodie, Djibril Kante, and Patrick Saez were the names of the game for the Chileans that took over the game early in the second quarter. Uberlandia jumped back before the half to cutting the Chilean's lead to 11 points (48-37). In the second half Coach Enio Vecchi's players got things together and played with more effort. The “Mineiros” entered the last quarter trailing by 6 points (61-67), and slowly closed the gap. The game was decided in the final seconds.
With just four seconds left Cedric Moodie put the Chileans ahead (88-87), but 'Valtinho' Silva (187-G-77, agency: Interperformances), on a winning three-point shot, kept the Brazilians alive in the competition. Uberlandia has the difficult mission of qualifying over Olimpia tonight at their “cancha”. Libertad Sunchales has already reached the post season, but tonight's game between Uruguayans and Brazilians will be the one to watch.
Box Score

Uberlandia: 90 (20+17+24+29)
U. Concepcion: 88 (21+27+19+21)

  LSB 2007 - Group A: Gimnasia (ARG) takes down Cocodrilos (VEN) 85-73 - Feb. 28, 2007 
Cocodrilos de Caracas (Venezuela) played a much better match than the previous night, but still lost another Liga Suramericana game, this time against the title holders of Argentina, Gimnasia y Esgrima Comodoro Rivadavia, 85-73 at Libos Colisseum of Lima, Peru.
Gimnasia had previously defeated Alas Peruanas (Peru) 78-48, while Cocodrilos were the victims of Provincial Osorno (Chile) 77-73 in a very unexpected result. This time, they were able to come back from a 24-20 deficit in the first quarter and a 42-35 finish at the first half to get back ahead in the scoreboard during the third, but they could not do anything against the good long distance shooting by the argentinian team.
Gabriel Cocha was the top scorer with 24 points, Leandro Masieri added 15 and Pablo Moldu finished up with 14 for the winners, while Kevin Freeman was again the best scorer of Cocodrilos with 23 points, followed by Tim Jones with 13 points, Victor David Diaz and Henry Paez with 12 each.
Cocodrilos will complete their schedule this Wednesday night against Alas Peruanas (Peru).

  Gimnasia and Osorno, Group A leaders - Feb. 27, 2007 
Provincial Osorno from Chile defeated 77-73 Cocodrilos de Caracas in a very close match. This was the third time in 74 all-time games, a Chilean basketball team defeats a Venezuelan team. The first quarter finished in a tie, 20-20, but it stood close when the second quarter finished, 35-34 in favor of Cocodrilos. In the third, Cocodrilos forgot how to play, to let Provincial score a quarter of 28-11 to put a lead of 62-46. This advantage taken by Osorno, sentenced the match, and the only thing Cocodrilos could do, was achieve a short difference of 4 points.
In the other match of the Peruvian night, the local team, Alas Peruanas had to play with the argentinian Champion, Gimnasia y Esgrima de Comodoro Rivadavia. The Southern team went to the court with Cocha, Moldu, Jones, Scales and Herrera, while the Alas team started with Juan Carlos Monje, Gates, Cullins, Julio Monje and Aubry. The first quarter finished tied in 17, but a burst of the argentinian team, by the end of the second, Gimnasia was winnning by 13. In the third, Alas Peruanas could not do much more, and another burst of Gimnasia with Masieri's 3 points and with the great defense of Eloy Martin, Gimnasia started the last part of the game with 20 points difference, 43-63. The last quarter, was only a commitment, because, the coach of Gimnasia, Fernando Duro, stood in the court the youngster Nicolas de los Santos and Santiago Haag. The new foreign, Justin Howard, had a great game, and that made the argentinian coach happy. Finally, the last quarter score was 5-15, to end the match with a 30 point difference, 48-78.
Boxscore:
Alas Peruanas (48): Juan Carlos Monje 11, Prentiss Gates 7, Kotkenya Cullins 8, Julio Monje 6, Jeff Aubry 8 (FI) Aldo De Ferrari 4, Ignacio De Ferrari 4.
Gimnasia CR (78): Gabriel Cocha 7, Pablo Moldu 10, Charles Jones 7, Jervaughn Scales 10 y Ruperto Herrera 1 (FI) Nicolas De los santos 6, Leandro Masieri 18, Justin Howard 12, Eloy Martin 5 y Santiago Haag 2
Partials: 17-17, 29-42, 43-63
Gentility: Cesar Bersais - FM Del Mar - Comodoro.

  Olimpia and Libertad Sunchales won in the first round for group D  - Feb. 27, 2007 
Mauro Tornaria (187-G-82) and Pablo Rak (188-G-82) scored 30 points each one and Olimpia (Uruguay) beat 104-91 Universidad Concepcion (Chile), while Libertad Sunchales (Argentina) defeated Uberlandia 91-79, with 29 points by Cleotis Brown (198-G/F-77, college: Illinois) during the first round of the Group D for the South American League, played in Montevideo. Concepcion took a five points lead with 2.40 to be played in the third quarter, but then Olimpia scored a 15-2 run, with nine points by Tornaria and Olimpia took the lead for the rest of the game. Cedric Moodie (187-G-78, college: Indianapolis (IN)) scored 34 points for Concepcion. Nathan Mielke (210-F-81, college: Wisc.-Milwaukee), Olimpia, grabbed 16 rebounds. Liberttad Sunchales scored 32-16 during the third quarter to take the lead after trailing for the first two quarters. Cleotis Brown netted 29 points for Libertad and grabbed 24 rebounds. Valtinho scored 17 for Uberlandia.
OLIMPIA 104 - Daniel Rivero 2, Nathan Mielke 18, Sebastian Vazquez 4, Mauro Tornaria 30, Andres San Miguel 2, Diego Losada 0, Alejandro Perez 0, Pablo Rak 30, Omar Galeano 6, Reque Newsome 12. CONCEPCION Patrick Saez 17, Evandro Arteaga 8, Nelson Mendez 0, Pablo Ayala 0, Jose Campos 0, Alexis Hernandez 0, Cedric Moodie 34, Djbril Kante 6, Louis Truscott 20.
By quarters Olimpia 30-21, 42-39, 70-65
---
LIBERTAD 91 - Diego Alba 4, Leopoldo Ruiz Moreno 9, Jorge Benitez 7, Martin Muller 2, Andres Pelussi 11, Cleotis Brown 29, Diego Cavaco 12, Pablo Moya 4, Robert Battle 7, Marcos Saglietti 6
UBERLANDIA 79 - Helio 13, Douglas 0, Wagner 4, Patrick 8, Valtinho 17, Alfredo 5, Cambraia 3, Charles 14 Guilerme 0.
By quarters: Libertad 18-25, 37-48, 69-64.

  LSB: Libertad Sunchales defeats Uberlandia - Feb. 27, 2007 
Uberlandia played a great first half leading the game by as many as 13 points, however, with a great second half performance, and an excellent evening by Cleotis Brown, the Argentinian squad was able to come up with its first win in the most important continental club basketball tournament in the Americas. 

Libertad: 91 (18+19+32+22)
Starters: Diego Alba 4, Leopoldo Ruiz Moreno 9, Cleotis Brown 31, Andres Pelussi 11, Robert Battle 7. Off the bench: Diego Cavaco 10, Martin Muller 2, Jorge Benitez 7, Marcos Saglietti 6 y Pablo Moya 4.
Coach: Carlos Bualo.
Unitri/Uberlandia: 79 (25+23+16+15)
Starters: Valtinho 17, Alfredo 5, Charles 14, Alexander Blackwell 15, Patrick Whearty 8. Off the bench: Elio 13, Wagner 4 y Cambraia 3.
Coach: Enio Vecchi.

  LSB 2007 - Group A: Osorno (CHI) surprised Cocodrilos (VEN) 77-73 - Feb. 27, 2007 
For only the third time in 74 all-time games, a Chilean basketball team was able to defeat a Venezuelan team and it happened in Gameday 1 of LSB 2007's Group A, as Provincial Osorno (Chile), champions of Dimayor, defeat Cocodrilos de Caracas (Venezuela), the seventh team in LPB 2006, by 77-73, in Lima, Peru.
The first quarter ended with a 20-20 time and Cocodrilos ran off with a 15-14 streak in the second to go to the half time rest ahead, 35-34, but everything changed drastically, as Cocodrilos forgot the ball or defending at all, to let Osorno go ahead 28-11 to gain a huge 62-46 lead that they almost outbeat in the last 10 minutes.
Chris Jeffries (199-F-80) netted 29 points, Erik Carrasco (181-G-83) added 20 and Tony Bishop (201-F-73) supported them with 12. For Cocodrilos, Kevin Freeman (201-F-78) scored 17 points and both Victor David Diaz (195-F-68) and Tim Jones (193-G/F-73) followed him with 13 points. Cocodrilos now needs to defeat Gimnasia (Argentina) and Alas Peruanas (Peru) and expect a defeat of Osorno.

  LSB: Tiagao join Provincial Osorno - Feb. 20, 2007 
Provincial Osorno reach an agreement with the brazilian center Tiagao de Lima as their third import player for the upcoming Liga Sudamericana. Thiago played with the brazilian NT in the Southamerican championship in 2003.
A few days ago, the leaders of the club announced that Marquise Gainous would be the third import, but the american player decided to sign a contract in another country.
With the arrived of Tiagao, Osorno is ready to play in group A, against Alas Peruanas (PER), Gimnasia de Comodoro (ARG) and Cocodrilos (VEN).

  LSB: friendly games - Feb. 17, 2007 
Provincial Osorno and Universidad de Concepcion played two friendly games as a training for the upcoming Liga Sudamericana 2007. Osorno played both games with only one import player.
On thursday night, the visitors won 83-109 with a great performance by the center Djibril Kante and the guard Cedric Moodie, with 30 and 22 points respectively. For the host, Erik Carrasco scored 30 coming off the bench.
On friday night, Osorno recovered and won 99-96. Pablo Coro send the game to overtime with a last second 3 point fg and Erik Carrasco decided the game with another 3 point fg. The scoring leaders were Carrasco and Tony Bishop with 32 and 24 respectively. For the visitors, Cedric Moodie  scored 23 and Louis Truscott 20.

  LSB: roster changes for Concepcion - Feb. 16, 2007 
Universidad de Concepcion made two roster changes for the South American league. The national center Patricio Briones decided to left the team due to personal reasons. He was replaced by the forward Pablo Ayala. Meanwhile, Trent Strickland decided to stay in the States for a free agents NBA camp in Las Vegas. After this, the leaders of Universidad de Concepcion signed with the forward/center Louis Truscott, who played for Deportes Ancud the last season of Dimayor.

  LSB: Jeffries is back in Osorno - Feb. 16, 2007 
The renovation of the forward Chris Jeffries was the big news for Provincial Osorno in his way to participate in Liga Sudamericana 2007. They also sign the center Marquise Gainous  as their third import player for the tournament. They will join, Tony Bishop, Erik Carrasco and Marcelo Hernandez as the key players for the chilean champion in this international tournament.

  Bishop sign for Osorno - Feb. 5, 2007 
Provincial Osorno signed the american forward Tony Bishop (201-F-73) as their first import player for upcoming Liga Sudamericana 2007. Bishop played the 2006 season for Boston College, averaging 19.8 points and 12.0 rebounds per game. Dimayor's champion will announce the complete roster for the tournament this friday.