CAB Madeira — Vitoria: 78:83, LPB

Vitoria saw off Cabu-Madeira 83:78 in the LPB on Friday evening, a result that keeps them in the mix despite sitting ninth in the table. The visitors carried their advantage into the final quarter and never looked back, even when the hosts pushed hard at home.

Cabu-Madeira had their moments — they pulled the score back several times — but Vitoria found the answers when it mattered. The away side ran out of legs by the closing stages, yet they kept their side in it through disciplined defence and smart shot selection.

The statistics tell a story of two different approaches. Vitoria shot 28 of 64 from the field while Cabu-Madeira managed 27 from 72 attempts. The visitors also held the advantage on the boards, grabbing 32 rebounds to the hosts' 44, though the extra possessions did not quite translate into more points.

We had called for an away win at 73 per cent confidence before the game, and that assessment held water. Vitoria's recent results had been inconsistent — losses to Braga and Vasco da Gama — but they showed enough composure to bottle the pressure and close out the match.

The result leaves Vitoria on 22 points from 22 games, still 14 defeats deep but no further from the fight. Cabu-Madeira remain behind them in the standings, and the gap between them feels smaller than the win-line suggests.