Argentina and Venezuela move on to FIBA Americas Championship Final and qualify for 2016 Rio Olympics

MEXICO CITY (2015 FIBA Americas Championship) - The Semi-Finals at the 2015 FIBA Americas Championship are over and both games were instant classics, with Venezuela pulling off an historic upset over Canada, while Argentina defeated hosts Mexico.

With nothing to lose and everything to gain, Venezuela delighted the fans at the Palacio de los Deportes, with a David versus Goliath clash that ended with a victory for David (Venezuela) over Goliath (Canada).

Venezuela gave a fighting lesson throughout the tournament and confirmed it by beating Canada, 79-78, in a game in which they showed determination.

Nestor "Che" Garcia's team took the first Semi-Final of the 2015 FIBA Americas Championship, and secured a spot at the 2016 Rio Olympics, where Venezuela will play for the second time in history, and the first time since the 1992 Barcelona Games.

Unable to control his emotions, Garcia had nothing but praises for his team.

"There was inspiration, commitment, soul and a lot of things. It is very difficult to talk about something that is truly historic for an entire country. I have been a long time away from home and ultimately it was for this."

The second Semi-Final was between two teams that already had created a classic in the Second Round of the Group Phase.

And so it proved that the Semi-Final was another memorable game, even more so than the previous one.

This time the result was different as Argentina got revenge and beat the defending champions Mexico, 78-70, in a game in which they turned to tough defense and their well-known offensive structure in the fourth quarter.

Luis Scola scored 18 points and as a result, surpassed Oscar Schmidt as the leading scorer in the history of the FIBA Americas Championship, with 1,292 points.

Saturday will see Canada and Mexico battle it out in the Third-Place Game, followed by the title game between Argentina and Venezuela.

The Venezuelans have never won the continental championship, while the Argentineans last stood on the top step of the podium in 2011.

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

FIBA