MONTEVIDEO, URUGUAY (FIBA Basketball World Cup Americas Qualifiers 2019) — Argentina imposed their authority and an unexpected difference against Uruguay, 102-58, at Palacio Peñarol in Montevideo at the end of Group A of the FIBA Basketball World Cup Americas Qualifiers. They now close the group in first place, with a record of 5 fictories, undefeated as visitors, and only one loss against the Uruguayans in the city of Olavarría. In second place, the Uruguayan team with a 4-2 record; Panama in the third place (2-3; and Paraguay was left out with a 0-5 record.

Luis Scola was a double figure with his contribution of 29 points (12/17 in 2PTS) and 11 rebounds, 9 defensives. In 34:31 minutes at the court, Nicolás Brussino did 14 points (4/4 in 2PTS), Nicolás Laprovittola added 12 and 5 assists; while Marcos Delía and Patricio Garino added 10 points each. For the team led by Marcelo Signorelli, Luciano Parodi contributed 19 units (4/4 in free throws).

The squad coached by Sergio Hernández showcased a high level of performance with the return of their ACB League players and captain Luis Scola —who was a decisive figure in the paint. Meanwhile, Uruguay felt the lack of players Esteban Batista and Jayson Granger and this was the difference in the standings, that have positioned the Argentine side as the leaders for the next stage of the Qualifiers.

“The best that I can take out from this game is that we are building our own identity, growing as a team and fixing some weaknesses. That makes me happy. We are showing a clear idea on how we want to play that goes beyond this game and last Thursday,”, said the head coach of the Argentinian National Team, Sergio Hernandez.

 Argentina dominated both sides of the court, with great efficiency rates: 14/20 in field goals and 14 rebounds (10 defensive) against 5/17 and 5 rebounds by Uruguay. Captain Luis Scola’s task was decisive, with 11 points and 5 rebounds, while Luciano Parodi —coming in from the bench— was the best for the locals, with his contribution of 11 points to close the first quarter 33-14 (favoring Argentina).

In the second quarter, Argentina continued to dominate the game with a lot of supremacy. Point guards Nicolás Laprovittola and Luca Vildoza gave Facundo Campazzo a rest as the Argentine center. The squad led by coach Sergio Hernández continued to control the match at Palacio Peñarol by more than 20 points. Without Esteban Batista in the court, Uruguay suffered 9 losses in the paint. While the figure of Marcos Delía was determining in the game against Panamá, Scola continued to work more to end that quarter with 20 points and 7 rebounds (6 defensive) and leave for half-time 58-30 (26-16 in the quarter) with a three-pointer by Vildoza at the end.

Argentina was able to get 30 points (74-44) in the third quarter with a great start by Nicolás Brussino, Patricio Garino and Marcos Delía as the spearheads of this significant difference, 80-51 (22-21). Scola added 7 points more to his personal score. The last act featured the visiting team as leaders during the 10 minutes, leaving the hosts with only 7 points against 22.

The Argentines threw for a 33.33% from the 3-point area (9 of 27) and 58.9% from the field-goal area; while capturing 45 rebounds (32 defensive) and giving 24 assists. The Uruguayans captured 36 rebounds and could only hand 13 assists in the whole encounter. They only scored 14/33 2PT shots (42.2%) and 8 of 32 3PT shots (25 %).

The next matches for Argentina, Uruguay and Group A’s third place (Panama) will take place against United States, Puerto Rico and Mexico, Group E rivals for the Americas Qualifiers of september and november of 2018, and february 2019.

The points from this round, as the ones from the first, will be important because they will rollover until the end of the qualifying process, in February 2019, when the best seven teams of this continent achieve their ticket for the FIBA Basketball World Cup China 2019 in September of the same year.

FIBA