Luis Scola stars as Argentina down Brazil 80-75 in the final of the 2011 FIBA Americas Championship
With the golden tickets to the 2012 London Olympics already punched, on Sunday night at Mar De Plata, Argentina and Brazil played more for pride than anything else in the finals of the 2011 FIBA Americas Championship.
By the time, the game ended, the two South American rivals matched each other in almost every facet of the game; however, it was the brilliance of power forward Luis Scola that set the two teams apart on the night.
The Houston Rockets big, set the court ablaze with a 32 point blitz on a prolific 12 of 18 shooting from the floor and also contributed 4 assist and 3 rebounds to lead the hosts. He was assisted by the Milwaukee Buck small forward Carlos Delfino, who fell just one board short of a double-double with 16 points and 9 rebounds.
Manu Ginobili had an off night in the finals, managing only 8 points on a 2 of 6 shooting, but Pablo Prigioni continued to impress and finished with 10 points.
Brazil were led by Marcus Vierra with 17 points.
The game had its first big break late in the first quarter. With Brazil leading by 8-6 at the 5:54 mark, Argentina sparked a 15-1 run to take a 21-9 lead after the first ten minutes. Lois Scola had 8 points in the period while Carlos Delfino poured in 6.
Rafael Hettsheimer tried to push Brazil back in the contest started the second quarter with 4 points. However, he was immediately countered by two baskets from Scola.
Brazil did not sit back though and keyed by Alex Garcia, they reeled off a 9 point unanswered run to pull back within three at 25-22.
Brazil however again found Luis Scola in their way.
Scola nailed three consecutive two’s to initiate a 10-0 run that put the Argentineans back on the driving seat. Brazil did manage to shave off four in the last minute as the first half ended at 35-27.
Both the teams started the second half with three pointers. Tiago Splitter then knocked down a jumper to make it 32-38. It was followed by a three point play from Ginobili as Argentina maintained a 9 point lead in the first two minutes of the third quarter. In the next four minutes, Brazil stormed to a 12-5 spurt to rock the host and in doing so, they took a 44-43 lead.
However, Carlos Delfino and Luis Scola combined for five points at that point to restore Argentina’s advantage. Brazil again bounced back to tie the game in the ensuing passage of the third quarter, which ended with a Carlos Delfino two to give Argentina 50-48 lead.
The game turned on its head early in the fourth.
Brazil who had been under the cosh right throughout the game, rattled the Argentine defenses early in the fourth and carved out an 8-0 run to race to a 56-50 lead.
Argentina needed somebody to stand up at that juncture of the game and they found that man in veteran forward Federico Kammerichs. The 6 ft 8 in forward scored 4 of his 7 points on the night at that point to pull the Argentineans back. Luis Scola followed with a three point play and Prigioni then canned a two to cap a 9-0 run.
Hettsheimer nipped the surge and after two free throws from Manu Ginobili, Tiago Splitter scored two points from inside the paint to make it a one point game at 61-60.
With 2:57 remaining, Lois Scola again chipped in with a three point play; Splitter responded with a layup, but Pablo Prigioni knocked down a dagger from downtown and Lois Scola again came to the fore with two shots from the charity stripe to take a decisive 69-62 lead.
Seven seconds later, Marcelo Machado made one of the two free throws, but committed a personal foul to give Delfino three attempts at the rim from the line. The Argentinean forward obliged and after Sanchez slipped in another two 15 seconds later, Argentina pretty much wrapped up the game, and the championship.
Brazil scored some quick points in the garbage time, but it only helped in making the final score a respectable one at 75-80.
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