VILA REAL (Portuguese SuperCup/FIBA Europe Cup) - In a meeting of two FIBA Europe Cup sides, Portuguese champions FC Porto claimed the national SuperCup, as they topped rivals SL Benfica in a thunderous atmosphere at the Pavilhao dos Desportos de Vila Real on Sunday evening.

After overcoming an early first-quarter deficit, coach Muncho Lopez's side cruised through most of the second half and registered a convincing 84-70 victory, winning the Portuguese SuperCup for the sixth time in the club's history.

Naturally, Lopez was a happy man at the final whistle: "I am very happy about the victory and proud of the effort of my players. We played against a great team who suffered mostly because it's only the beginning of the season."

Having ended Benfica's reign in the LPB last season, the Dragons successfully continued their resurgence by interrupting their rivals’ domination in the SuperCup as well. 

Benfica had won the SuperCup four years in a row.

Brad Tinsley put together an excellent all-around performance of 19 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists and claimed the MVP trophy, while Jeff Xavier and Sasa Borovnjak chipped in with 22 and 14 points respectively.

Meanwhile, Carlos Andrade had a team-high 18 points for Benfica and Ravan Barber collected an additional 13 for the losing side.

Although the first silverware of the season landed in Porto’s trophy cabinet, the Lisbon club will have plenty of opportunities to redeem themselves on multiple fronts, including the FIBA Europe Cup.

May we remind you that Benfica was drawn into Group A of the competition and will play their season-opener against Alba Fehervar (HUN) in just over a week's time, while Porto face the challenge of Port of Antwerp Giants (BEL) in Group D.

FIBA