Campazzo sparks Argentina's dramatic fourth-quarter comeback against Venezuela

PUERTO LA CRUZ (Venezuela) - It’s probably not how they envisioned it, but Argentina surely won’t complain about the outcome.

Nestor García’s squad struggled for most of the night before unleashing an outside shooting tsunami late in the game to erase a double-digit deficit and defeat Venezuela, 69-66, at Gimnasio Luis Ramos in Puerto La Cruz.

 

The previously undefeated home team had upset Argentina on the road in late February and looked to be on their way to sweeping the home-and-home matchup before Facundo Campazzo and company righted the ship in the nick of time.

Venezuela led by 11 at halftime behind an excellent combination of hot three-point shooting, good care of the ball and sturdy interior defense – as Argentina struggled with turnovers that stymied their offensive production.

Down by 10 at the beginning of the fourth quarter, Campazzo’s personal 5-0 run cut the deficit in half and gave his country the momentum they’d been seeking all night.

The rest was history.

José Vildoza hit a three. Campazzo added another one, followed by a Patricio Garino bomb. Campazzo hit his third of the quarter and Garino added one more.

In the blink of an eye, Argentina’s 21-0 run put them in full control of the game – leaving the home crowd speechless along the way.

 

The 26-23 final stanza was a clear sign of what Argentina is capable of when firing on all cylinders.

Fresh off his second season with the Denver Nuggets, Campazzo led the way with 29 points on 6/14 from the field, including five made three pointers. The speedy point guard also went 12/13 at the free throw line and added four rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block in a dominating performance.

Unheralded power forward Nicolás Romano was the only other Argentine scoring in double digits, with most of his 10 points coming earlier in the game as his country struggled to hang on.

But Argentina had plenty of other key contributions, like Marcos Delía’s 9-point, 8-rebound, 3-block showing and Garino’s 9 points on 3/3 shooting from beyond the arc.

All of it was needed against a Venezuela squad that looked unflappable in the first half, where Fernando Duró’s guys moved the ball beautiful and scored efficiently inside and out.

Garly Sojo scored 11 of his 13 points before halftime and Argentina seemed to have no answer for either Nestor Colmenares or Jhornan Zamora.

The third quarter came and went in similar fashion before the wheels fell off in the final 10 minutes of action.

The 33-year-old Zamora led the way for Venezuela with 15 points on 6/12 shooting. Big man Colmenares added 13 points and eight boards.

But Argentina’s defense in the second half turned it into a game where both teams ended up shooting below 40 percent from the field. Argentina also managed to get even with Venezuela on the boards and, while they were still outclassed in points in the paint and fastbreak points, they made up for it with more trips (and better accuracy) at the charity stripe.

Both countries now sit atop Group A with twin 4-1 records, having punched their tickets to the next phase of the 2023 FIBA World Cup Americas Qualifiers.

Argentina now travels to Panama City for one last showdown against Panama on Sunday, while Venezuela will host Paraguay in the last game of the group stage.

 

FIBA