XALAPA (Mexico) – In what was the best and closest game of the FIBA U16 Americas Championship, Argentina edged the Dominican Republic 76-74 behind another big outing from Lucas Giovannetti (24 points on 9-of-15 shooting).

For the second straight matchup, Argentina overcame a so-so performance from Juan Bocca and used their depth to do so.

Argentina’s top player in group stage scored just nine points on 4-of-10 shooting and shot 1-of-5 from downtown. Most importantly, he didn’t grab a single rebound and played under 15 minutes. The South American squad shined bright, though. In addition to Giovannetti’s scoring outburst, Juan Respaud scored 18 points on a highly efficient 67 percent shooting.

Beyond the balance on offense, it was Argentina’s ability to control the pace and limit their turnovers that proved to be the difference. They turned the ball over 15 times, but most of them weren’t live ball giveaways. They also shut down the Dominican Republic’s transition attack, holding them to just 12 points on the break.

While the DR received 26 points from Rodrigo Aybar off the bench, star Danny Carbuccia dropped just seven points and shot 2-of-9 from the field in 25 minutes of action. Argentina did an excellent job of using their defensive smarts to force Carbuccia into off-balance shots and double teams as they chose to let Carbuccia’s teammates beat them.

Despite an off-game from their best player and the pace favoring Argentina, the Dominican Republic still had a chance in the end to send the game to an extra period. Aybar – who kept his squad in the game regardless of the finish – missed a layup with five seconds remaining.

Argentina will now move onto the final, where they will face the winner of the United States and Canada on Sunday evening.

Meanwhile, the Dominican Republic will play in the third-place game, but they should be happy with how they performed on one of the biggest stages in U16 hoops. Developing their program moving forward can start with the abilities and upside of Aybar and Carbuccia.

FIBA