Corinthians Under-22 eye Copa São Paulo run-in after flawless LDB | OneFootball

Corinthians’ Under-22 basketball team is enjoying one of its best moments of the 2026 season. While finishing the first stage of the Basketball Development League (LDB), the country’s main competition in the category, as unbeaten leaders, the team coached by Wesley Aguiar is also very close to winning the Copa São Paulo de Basquete, an adult tournament organized by the São Paulo Basketball Federation (FPB).

The combination of results reinforces the strong form of the black-and-white squad, which uses the Copa São Paulo as preparation for the LDB and has been showing competitiveness in both competitions.

Photo: Reproduction / Corinthians

Timão fights for the Copa São Paulo title

Alongside its LDB campaign, Corinthians also remains strong in the Copa São Paulo de Basquete finals, an adult competition played with its Under-22 roster.

The team reached the final after eliminating Diadema and Liga Sorocabana, winning both series 2-1.

Quarterfinals

Against Diadema, Corinthians opened the series with a dominant 102-59 win, with Lucas Cardoso (18 points and 13 rebounds), Patrick (14 points), and Luiggi (11 points) among the standouts.

In the second meeting, Diadema won 89-88, taking the series to a third game.

In the decisive matchup, Timão responded with an 83-69 victory, led by Kaique, the game’s top scorer with 25 points, along with Lucas Cardoso (11 points and 15 rebounds) and Luiggi (10 points and eight rebounds).

Semifinal

In the semifinal, the opponent was Liga Sorocabana.

Corinthians won the first game 86-85, suffered an 89-87 defeat in the second matchup, and sealed qualification by winning the decisive game 75-59, securing a place in the state final.

Comeback in the final against Tatuí

The Copa São Paulo final is being played as a best-of-five series against Tatuí.

The start was not positive for Corinthians, which was beaten 98-61 at Ginásio Manoel Soares.

Playing at Mini Ginásio do Parque São Jorge, however, the team reacted immediately and tied the series by winning 81-69. The main names of the game were Matheus Jamelão, with 18 points and nine assists, Luiggi, who posted 18 points and 12 rebounds, and Lucas Cardoso, who contributed 16 points and nine rebounds.

In the third meeting, again at home, Corinthians completed the comeback in the series by winning 75-73. Luiggi once again stood out with 18 points and 13 rebounds, while Kaique added 15 points and two assists. Matheus Jamelão also played an important role, recording 13 points and six assists.

With that, Timão took a 2-1 lead in the deciding series and moved to just one win away from the title.

Perfect run puts Corinthians on top of the LDB

Timão finished the first stage of the LDB with a 100% record and ended as the outright leader of Group A. Playing its games at Ginásio Felipe Karam in Rio Claro, Corinthians won all six matches and was the only team in the group to achieve a perfect campaign.

The run began with an 84-69 victory over Cruzeiro. Next, Corinthians beat Instituto Viva Vida 83-82, coming from behind on the scoreboard.

The third game was one of the closest of the campaign. After a 57-57 tie in regulation against Minas, the black-and-white team came out on top in overtime and won 67-66, with Matheus Jamelão standing out.

After a bye in the schedule, Corinthians returned to the court and dominated Basquete Cearense, winning 83-55. In the fifth game, it confirmed its good form by beating Brasília 92-58.

The final challenge was also the toughest of the first phase. Against Caxias do Sul, Timão had to mount a comeback after going into halftime trailing, turned the game around in the second half, and secured its sixth straight win with an 82-78 result.

In the 2026 edition, the LDB features 24 teams, divided into two groups of 12. Each group was split into two subgroups of six teams.

In the first stage, matchups took place only between teams from opposite subgroups. In the second phase, scheduled for July and August, the teams will face clubs from their own subgroup. Corinthians, Cruzeiro, Paulistano, and Flamengo will host this stage.

At the end of the two qualifying phases, the top four teams from each group will advance to the Gold Series, which will determine the national champion between September 14 and 19. The teams finishing between fifth and eighth place will compete in the Silver Series.

Corinthians’ results in the first stage of the 2026 LDB

Next match

The fourth game of the final will take place next Friday (10) at 7:30 p.m. (Brasília time) in Tatuí. If it wins again, Corinthians will claim the Copa São Paulo de Basquete title with its Under-22 team.

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