McDonald's Championships
on Britball
Byrd conducts samba beat as Vasco progress
Vasco da Gama got the 1999 edition of the McDonald's Championship off to a positive start, defeating Oceania's best Adelaide 36ers by 90-79 in the tournament's opening game.
Tied after the opening quarter at 23-23, the Brazilians began to pull away in front in the second period. Their sharp shooting American guard Charles Byrd racked up four three pointers in the first half alone which ended with his team 49-37 in the lead.
Byrd again proved the samba beat in the second half but the Australians began to discover their own game, cutting their deficit back to four points with one minute left in the third period.
But in a move more reminiscent of his (almost) namesake Larry, with micro seconds left on the clock, he nonchalantly tossed the ball airborne from the half-way line to send Vasco into the ultimate stanza with a 70-61 advantage.
The 36ers could however find no real manner to divert the South American champions from their shooting streaks in the remaining time.
Vasco extended their lead to as much as 16 points and go forward to face Euro League champions Zalgiris Kaunas in Friday's semi-final. On this evidence, the Lithuanians will need to be on good form.
Byrd led all scorers on 31 points with Brett Maher of Adelaide topping his squad on 19.
1 2 3 4 Final Ade 23 14 24 18 79 Vas 23 26 21 20 90
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