TORONTO — Had it not been for the jerseys, fans wouldn't have known the two teams playing for GLOBL JAM men's gold had squared off just 24 hours prior.
On Saturday, Georgetown beat Brazil by two points in what could only be described as a bruising affair dictated by the Hoyas' interior attack.
Yet on Sunday, it was primarily a shootout as the two sides combined for 22 threes in what ended up as a 77-73 win for Brazil at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.
Leading that charge were Pedro Pastre with 16 points on four-of-seven shooting from deep, and Lucas Atauri, who went four-of-six and scored 14 points. Gabriel Landeira wasn't far behind as he chipped in 13 points on three-of-four distance shooting and eight assists to take home the men's tournament MVP.
And although it was Brazil which ultimately came out on top, with 14 threes on a 48-per-cent clip, Georgetown managed to make eight of its own, albeit on a 30-per-cent clip. Unfortunately for the Hoyas, that perimeter production largely vanished after the opening frame.
"I think we were more disciplined and (had) more determination," Brazil head coach Hélio Filho said after the win. "We started playing better defence than we played yesterday, made them take the shots we wanted them to ... we were much more patient with the work and did what we were supposed to do."
The Americans opened the night on a 13-3 run, leading 23-18 after the first quarter thanks to a four-of-seven start from beyond the arc. None were bigger than Jaden Fort's right corner make as the opening frame expired.
The margin was short-lived, however, as Georgetown would cool off to the tune of just four makes on its next 19 attempts. All the while, the Brazilians caught up in the second as it was their turn to shoot four-of-seven from beyond the arc, briefly stealing enough momentum to retake the lead before eventually facing a 43-42 halftime deficit. The Hoyas' lone triple in the frame proved to be the first-half difference maker — Malik Mack gathered the ball on the right wing, pumped and stepped through before pulling up and drilling his second long ball on the night, at the halftime buzzer.
Mack finished the game with 17 points on eight-of-13 shooting from the field to go with seven assists, while Vince Iwuchukwu added 19 points and nine rebounds to lead the Hoyas.
Sunday's contest was ultimately a battle of matching strengths, and by the end of it, Brazil simply did a better job. While Georgetown struggled to keep up from distance, Brazil made sure to match the Hoyas' physicality down low. Although Brazil finished minus-16 in paint points, it won the efficiency battle enough by scoring at a 52.6-per-cent clip in the key. All the while, the Brazilians used their success in gaining access to the interior to fuel the kinds of looks they really wanted.
"Today, it's very important to have a three-point shot, but the thing is, the more we get inside the more you're going to have some shots outside, and we took them," Filho explained. "When we had the shots, we took it and we were very confident about it."
The Brazilians would open the third on a 9-2 run, bookended with triples from Atauri — the second on a step-back that included an extra-long look at the Hoyas bench for good measure. And Atauri wasn't done there either, as the 21-year-old later nailed an above-the-break triple a couple of possessions later in response to a long ball from Mack, pushing the Brazilian to a stellar four-for-four start from deep.
His sharpshooting helped propel Brazil to a 64-62 lead after 30 minutes of action.
The Brazilians' two triples — highlighted by a right-corner make from Pastre off a slick one-handed cross-court pass from Landeira — allowed them to secure the victory after a low-scoring 13-11 fourth quarter in favour of the green-and-yellow.
The play was indicative of Brazil's success on the night, as the South American side trusted the pass and let it fly without hesitation. The Brazilians finished with an impressive 19 assists (plus-five) on 26 made field goals.
"I thought they were fresher than we were, I thought we looked a little fatigued," Georgetown head coach Ed Cooley said after the loss. " ... Of course, they were the better team today."
Meanwhile, the victory also marked Brazil's second men's GLOBL JAM gold medal in three iterations of the under-23 event. The Brazilians previously won at the inaugural GLOBL JAM in 2022, also beating the United States.
"(GLOBL JAM) is very, very important for us," Filho said when asked about the importance of Brazil competing at the showcase. "To compete with the best teams in the world, the United States with a great university, Canada with a great team and Japan, who we don't play very much.
"So for us to have these games is very important to grow and get to our goals."
And speaking of the Americans, the Hoyas' loss meant no hardware for the United States after they swept the tournament the last time it was held two years ago. The Texas Longhorns, representing Team USA on the women's side, fell to the Canadians in the gold-medal game earlier in the night. Fittingly, it was yet another sharpshooting performance that led the red-and-white to victory — MVP Avery Howell finishing with 24 points on six-of-six from deep.
Similar to the Brazilian men, it was the second GLOBL JAM gold in three showings for Canada's under-23 women.
