Victão rues late loss, backs Corinthians and rallies Fiel for NBB semi | OneFootball

Corinthians was defeated by Pinheiros 82–81 after overtime on Saturday night (23) at Ginásio Wlamir Marques, in Game 3 of the Novo Basquete Brasil (NBB) semifinal. Despite the result, power forward Victão highlighted the team’s effort on the court and praised the support of the black-and-white fans during the game.

With the home loss, Timão now trails in the best-of-five series, which stands at 2–1 in favor of Pinheiros. The next matchup takes place on Tuesday (26) at 8:30 p.m. (Brasília time) at Ginásio Henrique Villaboim.

Photo: Beto Miller / Corinthians

After the game, Victão lamented not being able to turn the great celebration from the Fiel into a victory, but stressed the squad’s commitment in the decisive stretch of the competition.

“Man, without a doubt, I think we were really sad that we couldn’t repay the beautiful celebration our fans put on here today with a win, but what our team showed today is that commitment will not be lacking. We’ve been showing that every game, and we need your support for the next game so we can get a victory.”

The player also called on Corinthians supporters to back the team in the away clash, which could keep the club alive in the race for a spot in the NBB final.

“Fiel, this is Vitão. I’m counting on the support of all of you. You know how important you are to us, and we’ll definitely go there looking for this win. Go, Corinthians!”

On the court, Corinthians managed to respond at important moments in the game, but suffered from inconsistency throughout. Victão commented on the team’s difficult moments, especially during the second and fourth quarters.

“Unfortunately, that blackout ended up costing us the game, but the team also showed a good attitude. We adjusted because we weren’t controlling the rebounds, we weren’t able to impose our game, our pace. When we managed to settle that down, play good defense, put together good runs, things got better for us.”

In the game played at Wlamir Marques, Corinthians’ offensive standouts were Elinho, with 23 points, and Kauan Raymundo, who scored 18. Victão also finished as one of the team’s top performers, with 16 points and five rebounds.

Now, Timão needs to win the fourth game of the series to force a fifth and decisive NBB semifinal game.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.