ARG – Atenas, Penarol heading towards showdown for Argentina title

BUENOS AIRES (Liga Nacional) - Former Argentina coach Ruben Magnano and current national team boss Sergio Hernandez are close to squaring off against each other in a Liga Nacional title showdown.

Ruben Magnano's Atenas beat Sionista 78-67 to claim a 2-0 lead in their play-off semi-final with Andre Laws, Juan Locatelli and Juan Figueroa each scoring 11 points.

Atenas are finding it much easier against Sionista than when they went up against Regatas Corrientes, who took Magnano's team to a Game 5 decider in their first-round tie.

Magnano was the Argentina coach on the sidelines during their gold-medal win at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

Hernandez is at the helm of Penarol and his men hold a 2-0 advantage over Libertad following a 72-62 Game 2 triumph over Libertad.

Argentina center Roman Gonzalez and Fernando Malara each poured in 16 points for Penarol while Libertad got 20 points from Danilo Pinnock and 13 from Sebastian Ginobili.

Gonzalez also finished with 10 rebounds for Penarol.

Each Game 3 is due to be played on Wednesday evening.

FIBA