Historic! Chile is the South American U17 Champion

LIMA (FIBA South American U17 Championship) – Chile defeated Argentina to be crowned South American U17 Champion, for the first time in the history of the competition. Ecuador also made history by claiming the Bronze medal and the country’s first qualification to the FIBA U18 Americas Championship 2018.

Chile defeated Argentina 70-60 to claim its first South American U17 title. Argentina captured a 8-point lead at the end of the first quarter, but the Chileans responded with 48% efficiency from the field to take the top of the scoreboard after a 23-14 second quarter. Chile took the ball to the paint where they produced 48 of the team’s points, meanwhile Argentina ran into foul trouble and Chile took advantage of that fact. The Chileans dominated the boards 47-39 and won the second half 34-25, to take the win and the historic gold-medal. The top performer for the Chileans was Kevin Rubio who added 22 points and 7 rebounds in the championship game.

Ecuador made history after claiming the Bronze Medal of the South American U17 Championship and a qualification to the FIBA U18 Americas Championship, with a 80-63 win over Colombia. Ecuador dominated from the get-go and captured an 11-point lead at the end of the first half. Ecuador found efficiency from long range, shooting for 52% from three-point land. Colombia discounted a few points, but the Bronze Medal belonged to Ecuador. Michael Moncayo was the best for Ecuador with 27 points.

Meanwhile, Venezuela took seventh place after a 84-32 win over Peru and Paraguay took fifth place over Uruguay, after the game had to be stopped due to a power outage.

Final Standings
1. Chile*
2. Argentina*
3. Ecuador*
4. Colombia
5. Paraguay
6. Uruguay
7. Venezuela
8. Peru

*Qualified to the FIBA U18 Americas Championship 2018

FIBA