ECU - Argentina beat Colombia to gold but both advance to Vancouver

CUENCA (IWBF) - Argentina beat Colombia 48-41 in the gold medal game of the South American Qualification Tournament for Wheelchair Basketball.

Both countries advanced to next year’s Americas Cup in Vancouver by reaching the final.

The Americas Cup is the qualification tournament for IWBF Americas for the 2010 World Championships in Birmingham, United Kingdom.

In the qualification tournament that was staged in Cuenca, Ecuador, Argentina finished top of the Preliminary Round after beating Venezuela, Colombia and the tournament hosts.

The Albiceleste’s closest game was their first against Venezuela, a contest that was tied at the end of the third quarter but was won by the Argentinians after they outscored their opponents 16-8 over the final 10 minutes.

Adolfo Berdun had 22 points in that triumph.

Maximiliano Ruggeri led the way with 21 points in a 60-42 win over Colombia while Sergio Vera had 21 in a 78-18 win over Ecuador.

The unbeaten run meant they went into the semi-finals as the top seed ahead of Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador and that threw them into a last-four game against the Ecuadorians.

Once again they had no trouble, winning 82-18 with Berdun pouring in a game-high 28 points.

A much closer semi-final was played between Venezuela and Colombia.

In the Preliminary Round meeting between the two sides, Felipe Aragorte of Venezuela torched the Colombians with 29 points to lead his team to a 59-52 triumph.

Colombia prevailed when it mattered most, however, 62-48 in the semi. Rodney Hawkins scored 22 points in that victory.

With both sides having clinched their places in Vancouver, Argentina capped a magnificent week with the gold-medal win.

Berdun led Argentina with 22 points.

Ruggeri was voted MVP of the tournament.

FIBA