Canada outclass Argentina to grab the fifth place in the 2012 FIBA U 17 World Championship for Men
Kevin Zabo hammered a game high 26 points and hauled down 7 rebounds as Canada managed to edge out Argentina 84-79 in the 5-6 playoff game in the 2012 FIBA U 17 World Championship for men.
Canada made a solid start to the game and were leading by 14-2 within the first three and half minutes of the game. The Argentines finally started to make some shots after that, but still trailed the Canadians 32-22 after one.
The North Americans maintained their advantage early in the second quarter, but started to fall apart nearly midway when the Argentines reeled off a 17-4 to not only evaporate the massive deficit, but also take a one point lead
at 41-40.
The Canadians however scored the last four points of the half, closing it at 44-41.
Argentina had the better of the opening minutes in the second half and tied the game at 48 inside the first three minutes. The game was then tied on 50, before the Canadians raced away to an 11 point unanswered run to snatch a
significant advantage for the second time in the game.
However, unlike the previous time, the Argentineans failed to respond. They trailed by as many 11 early in the fourth and never managed to get within 5 for the remaining duration, finally bowing out at 84-79.
The South Americans were led by 26 points, 5 assists and 5 rebounds from their sensational centre Gabriel Deck. Alvaro Merlo had 16 points with 7 assists; Guillermo Lopez had 13 points, while Rodrigo Haag finished the game with
11.
For Canada, Patrick Steeves complemented Zabo with 14 points while Tanveer Bhullar and Marial Shayok added 12 apiece to the Canadian tally.
The Argentineans matched the Canadians in nearly every facet of the game, and were infact better in stretching the floor. They made 22 assists on the night as compared to only 8, but gave away one too many points on the paint.
They were out-rebounded by 42-26 and also lost the battle of the glass points 46-36.
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