ARG - Chile surprise Argentina

SAN BERNARDO (2010 FIBA World Championship) - Argentina had better not take anything for granted at the South American Championship later this month.

Chile reminded them of that fact on Thursday night as they beat the Argentinians 71-69 in San Bernardo.

Argentina fans can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that their leading players that have made the number one in the FIBA World Rankings are not in the squad that lost the game.

Evandro Arteaga poured in 20 points for the home side, which will go into the South American Championship looking to book its place for next year's FIBA Americas Championship that will be played in Mar del Plata, Argentina.

In the first game between the two sides the night before, Argentina prevailed 68-51.

Juan Gutierrez and Matias Sandes each had 13 points in that victory.

Chile have zero points and therefore are below the People’s Republic of Congo and Liberia, who are joint-75th in the FIBA World Rankings with 0.6 points each.

The South American Championship will be played from July 25-31 in Neiva, Colombia.

Argentina's players are trying to impress to earn consideration for a spot in the squad for the 2010 FIBA World Championship, which tips off at the end of August.

Gutierrez had 12 points and Roman Gonzalez 11 in the setback for Argentina.

Both were in the country’s bronze-medal winning side at the Beijing Olympics.

FIBA