Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay prevail – FIBA Americas C’Ship 2011 Day 5 Review (Part-2)
Uruguay 79 - Paraguay 66
Leandro Garcia scored 19 points while Martin Osimani punctuated 15 points as Uruguay beat Paraguay 79-66 on Saturday and with it not only secured a berth in the second round of the 2011 FIBA Americas Championship, but also ensured that Paraguay joined Cuba as the first two teams to be knocked out in the first round.
Paraguay put in a spirited performance in the first half. After enduring a 8-2 spurt early on, they bounced back and by time the first 10 minutes ended, they trailed by only one at 21-20. They continued to hold back the powerful Uruguayan side in the second quarter also and showed only 41-38 down at halftime.
However, Paraguay’s resistance broke down in the third frame. Uruguay started with a 8-2 burst and then continued to pound Paraguay’s defense with a procession of layups, jumpers and three’s to chart out a 62-47 going into the last quarter.
Shook up by the Uruguayan assault, the Paraguayan team showed some character and finished their tournament run with a dominant quarter. They outscored Uruguay 19-17 in the final frame to finish the game at 66-79. They were led by Enrique Martinez, who scored 18 points while Bruno Zanotti racked up 17.
Brazil 93 – Cuba 83
Coming into the game on the back of three straight losses, Cuba had already been eliminated from the championship by the time; they came face to face with a strong Brazilian outfit on Saturday.
And things didn’t get any better for them on the fourth attempt. Vitor Benite led the Brazilians19 points to inflict a fourth straight loss on Cuba at 93-83.
It was a one-way traffic from the very start. Brazil started off with a 10-2 spurt and led the Cuban 52-37 at the end of first half. They ballooned their lead to 73-51 after three and virtually sealed the game and a spot in the next round. The Cubans however put up a valiant in the last quarter and outscored the Brazilians 32-20 to salvage some sort of pride. Cuba's Yoan Luis Haiti finished the game with 27 points.
Argentina 90 – Panama 71
The hosts Argentina finished the first round of the FIBA Americas C’Ship 2011 as the only team with an unbeaten record. On Saturday, they recorded their fourth consecutive win by routing Panama 90-71.
The Argentineans were led by their Houston Rockets power forward Luis Scola. Scola recorded a double-double on the night with 19 points and 14 rebounds. He was especially lethal from the long range in the game and finished it with a prolific 5-of-6 shooting. Andres Nocioni, yet another NBA player hailing from the Philadelphia 76ers also hammered 18 points.
Pablo Prigioni also racked up 17 points and 6 rebounds while the Argentinean sniper, Manu Ginobili ended the game with 14 points and a game high 8 assists.
Panama put in a solid first half performance. In fact, at the close of the first half, they were leading the hosts by 39-38.
However, all that changed in the second half. The Argentineans opened the third quarter with a Lois Scola two. Two three’s from Nocioni followed with in a minute and the host raced away to a 26-12 demolition. Things didn’t change much in the fourth quarter as Argentina recorded a 90-71 win.
"The first half cost us, but in the second we started to circulate the ball more and play more as a team," Nocioni said after the game.
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