Uruguay makes history in Argentina and now leads Group A
Uruguay imposed their authority against Argentina (88-83) as visitors in the beginning of the second stage of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 China Qualifiers at Parque Carlos Guerrero.
OLAVARRIA (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019) — Uruguay imposed their authority against Argentina (88-83) as visitors in the beginning of the second stage of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 China Qualifiers at Parque Carlos Guerrero in the city of Olavarria.
In a thrilling match, Bruno Fitipaldo was the greatest scorer with 25 points; while Esteban Batista achieved another 17. For the locals, Nicolás Brussino and Luis Scola led the offense with 23 points each, and Lucio Redivo ended with 18.
The team coached by Marcelo Signorelli threw for a 40.74% from the three-point area (11/27) and a 50% in field goals; while capturing 34 rebounds (25 defensive) and handing out 19 assists. The Argentines captured 40 rebounds (26, defensive) and did 20 assists; plus, they scored 42.86% in field goals (27/36) and 39.13% in three-pointers.
Argentina set the rhythm in the first quarter and established an important 11-point advantage (27-16) with Lucio Redivo as leader in the offense, with 8 points and two essential three-point shots.
“Apart from the first quarter, they played better than us. They were much more dynamic and aggressive. We survived with very far three-point shots. The game was dominated by Uruguay and they played as they wished. Whoever plays better wins, and that was what logically happened,” Sergio Hernandez (ARG)
Small forward Nicolás Brussino opened the second quarter with three points, Redivo kept contributing his game from outside the game, but it was Luciano Parodi’s mental velocity to assist point guard Gustavo Barrera what caused the Uruguayans to close in by 2 points (33-35) with 2:19 left on the clock. A shower of three pointers —first by Brussino and then by Parodi— shortened the difference between the teams and, after a double by Scola in the close, the quarter closed 15-20 and both teams left for half-time 42-36.
With an inspired Bruno Fitipaldo, Uruguay attained a 17-4 quarter and moved forward thanks to their great offense (53-46). The contributions by the Argentine bench were few, but there were good shots by Scola (10) and a good defense close to the end, and Argentina was on top again with a 3-pointer by Redivo 62-60, despite losing the quarter 20-25. The visiting team also took home the last act (27-21) with 11 points by veteran player Esteban Batista, and despite Brussino and Scola each attaining 3-points at the end, Uruguay will now take home an important victory and will stay undefeated in the Qualifiers.
“It's a very valuable victory, it was a dream for us. As the statistics state, it has been 12 years since we defeated Argentina at Argentina, and we believed that we had to do it, that we had a chance. And we went for it. Then when we saw that the game was neck to neck, when we saw that they went to the front and then we went to the front, we wanted to use the opportunity and we did so well.”Mathias Calfani (URU)
Argentina —surrendering their condition as locals— will play once again on Monday in Olavarria against Paraguay, while Uruguay will travel to Panama to face the Caribbean team in the last game of this stage.
“We're sad. But we’ll try to prepare the game against Paraguay the best we can to end this window triumphantly, because we can’t give away any more points.” Nicolas Brussino
FIBA