At noon this Saturday (25.01), Rubro-Negro took to the court for Novo Basquete Brasil to play the classic against Brasília, at the Nilson Nelson gym. In an exciting game and very disputed until the last second, Rubro-Negro won 81 to 79, with the highlight being the top scorer of the match, Laprovittola, who was in an inspired afternoon and reached a double-double with 33 points and 12 rebounds.

The game started evenly, as expected of a classic. In the first quarter, Laprovittola was the standout with an excellent performance. The Argentinean racked up 12 points and six rebounds, along with two assists. The quarter ended 25-24 for Flamengo. With beautiful plays and three-pointers, Laprovittola continued to give the team from the Federal District a hard time in the second quarter. The Argentinean converted two free throws at the end of the clock, giving Flamengo its biggest lead of the game so far, four points. Marquinhos also came on strong: the forward was the second-highest scorer in the quarter. For Brasília, Nezinho, Alex, and Giovannoni were the standouts.

"After the entire first half without playing, I'm very happy to be back, very motivated. We'll try to maintain a good pace for the second half," said Marquinhos as he headed off for halftime.

Returning to the court, point guard Gegê shared coach José Neto's recommendation for the second half. "Keep moving the ball, be patient, defend strongly, and attack on the counterattack," he said.

In the third quarter, Laprovittola hit his fifth three-pointer of the game, also achieving a double-double. Flamengo went into the final quarter with a nine-point lead: 68-59. With a broken nose, Alex left the game, and Nezinho took over for the Brasília team, which grew into the game and tied the score: 79-79. Meyinsse converted a free throw, giving Flamengo a one-point lead, heating up the game. Laprovittola was fouled and made only one of his shots, leaving the game still open with nine seconds remaining: 81-79. Brasília's coach called a timeout to try to set up a play for the remaining time. When the clock restarted, the experienced Marcelinho committed the foul to prevent the opponent from developing and gain more time. With four seconds left, Lavrovittola and Marquinhos managed to steal the ball from Giovannoni and gave the red-and-black fans a sigh of relief, who cheered and sang along with the players.

"It was a good performance from the whole team, which is recovering players, we're in a good moment. I'm very happy," celebrated Argentine Laprovittola, the match's best player. Shooting guard Marcelinho heaped praise on his teammate, who is in great form. "(Laprovittola) is a great player, who controls the pace of the game very well. Today he was in an inspired mood, and the team took advantage of that. He's a guy who's also very good as a group, not just as a player. That counts for a lot; he adds a lot to us," he said.