Brazil, Ecuador, Argentina and Uruguay advance to the Semi-Final Phase

SANTIAGO (Chile) - Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay earned wins on the third day of the South American U17 Championship 2019 and qualified to the Semi-Final Phase.

The Brazilian team (2-0) imposed its defense and its physical strength to dominate the host, Chile (0-2), with a score of 70-56 and secured first place in Group B. The result also determined that Ecuador (1 -1) will also advance to the Semi-Final Phase with the second position of Group B.

Brazil, after three quarters of great parity (17-17, 28-26 and 49-44), showed its trade and controlled the rival despite the push of the local fans. A three-pointer by Augusto De Oliveira and then a basket by Marcio Santos, silenced the CEO 2 by giving the Brazilian team a 13-point advantage (66-53) with a minute and a half left.

Santos, with 19 points and nine rebounds, was Brazil's top scorer. For Chile, which is the current champion of the category, Felipe Inyaco finished with 18 points.

In Group A, Argentina (3-0) sealed its qualification to the Semi-Finals by securing first place, after dominating Venezuela (1-2) 90-87.

After a very even first half in which the Venezuelans finished on top 47-45, the Argentines played a great third quarter and with a 25-15 run, took the lead 70-62.

In the last quarter the Argentines maintained safe distance on the scoreboard and celebrated the win.

Franco Méndez led Argentina’s offense with 26 points and seven rebounds.

Uruguay (2-1) took the second place of Group A and the other ticket available to the Semi-Finals, after comfortably defeating Colombia (0-3) 87-49.

Uruguay set the pace of the game from the start of the game. The team coached by Marcelo Capalbo were the absolute owners of the boards (71-30) and punished the rival with 33 fastbreak points and 44 points from the paint.

Agustín Ubal stood out for the Uruguayans with 26 points and 12 rebounds. For Colombia, Yustin Llerena finished with 14 points and Oscar Nieto with 11 points.

At the Semi-Finals of the South American U17 Championship, Argentina will face Ecuador and Brazil will face Uruguay. Meanwhile, Venezuela and Chile will play for fifth place.

The top three teams of the South American U17 Championship will qualify to the FIBA U18 Americas Championship 2020.

FIBA