Argentina, Canada, Mexico and Venezuela open Second Round with wins

MEXICO CITY (2015 FIBA Americas Championship) - Venezuela, Argentina, Canada and Mexico won on the opening day of the Second Round of the Group Phase at the 2015 FIBA Americas Championship on Sunday.

Aside from Canada's blowout of Panama, it was an exciting day of great emotional games for the remaining teams in the competition.

Venezuela defeated the Dominican Republic, 72-68, in a game that the team coached by Nestor Garcia dominated throughout but which ended with great drama.

After having taken a 14-point lead in the third quarter, Venezuela lost their concentration and let the Domicans get within 70-68 with 12 seconds to play. However, that's as close as they got and Gregory Vargas sealed the win for the South Americans.

"I think we did a great job defensively for most of the game, but in the end we got distracted," admitted Heissler Guillen, who had 9 points in the winning cause.

"We got into foul trouble and let the Dominicans get momentum in their perimeter game. That’s why it was so close in the end."

In another classic and well-known rivalry of the Championship, Argentina met their neighbors from Uruguay and the contest lived up to expectations.

The Argentineans remained undefeated following a 90-87 win.

The Uruguayans controlled the game for about 36 minutes. They led 44-37 at half-time thanks to great offensive work from Bruno Fitipaldo and Matias Calfani.

However, Nicolas Richotti and Andres Nocioni took over in the second half as Argentina won their fifth game in a row in the competition.

"Uruguay is very comfortable playing against our style and they dominated the majority of the game," said Facundo Campazzo.

"In the first half they executed everything perfectly. But in the second we adjusted a little in defense and it produced points for us. We won with character and attitude."

Canada opened the Second Round in the same way they ended the First Round, with a dominating performance, this time over Panama, as they cruised to a 103-66 victory.

Jay Triano's team showed good rotation, ball movement and great offensive awareness against a team that had no answers and no youth to compete with a Canadian team that quickly established an effective run and gun style of play.

Nik Stauskas led the way with 16 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists.

In the day's last game - a re-match of the 2013 FIBA Americas Championship Final - Puerto Rico and Mexico battled in front of more than 14,400 fans that packed the Palacio de los Deportes, with the home team prevailing 92-86.

The undefeated hosts and reigning champions had to overcome a determined Puerto Rican team that gave its all.

Paul Stoll hit a timely basked for Mexico, who got 28 points and 12 rebounds from and Hector Hernandez.

The two teams that reach the Final of the 2015 FIBA Americas Championship will qualify directly to the 2016 Rio Olympics, while the teams that come in third, fourth and fifth will clinch places in the2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments (OQTS).

This changes if Brazil finish among the top two. In that case, the third-place team will advance to the Rio Games. If they finish in the 3rd-5th places, then the 6th-place team will advance to the 2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

All games can be watched live on livebasketball.tv (registration and subscription required; geo-blocking may apply; click here for the full list of territories and broadcasters) and highlights will be available on youtube.com/fiba.

Go to fiba.com/Americas2015 for full coverage of the 2015 FIBA Americas Championship.

FIBA