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First Canada then Argentina, Venezula pulled off back to back upsets to travel to the Rio Olympics next year as the reigning FIBA Americas Champions. Despite the absence of their best player in Grevis Vasquez, point guard for the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA, Venezuela triumphed over Argentina 76-71 behind team high 15 points from Heissler Guillent. On Friday, defeating heavily favored Canada in the semi-final landed Venezuela their first Olympic berth since 1992.
Andres Nocioni scored a game high 21 and Luis Scola, forward for the Toronto Raptors in the NBA, registered a double double of 14 points and 11 rebounds in vain for Argentina. Irrespective of the result, both FIBA Americas finalists had already directly qualified for the Olympics next year joining USA (FIBA World Champions), Australia (FIBA Oceania Champions), Nigeria (AfroBasket Champions) and host Brazil.
Highlights from the FIBA Americas championship game:
In the other game on Saturday night, Canada defeated the hosts Mexico 87-86 on the back of a 20 foot buzzer beater by Corey Joseoph, who finished with 11 points for the night. Andrew Nicholson scored a game high 20 points while Andrew Wiggins, No.1 overall pick of the 2014 NBA Draft, contributed 18 as Canada let go off a 9-point lead in the final 3:28 minutes of the game. Marco Ramos was the top scorer for Mexico with 19 points.
Mexico would have won the bronze medal if it wasn’t for Joseph’s end game heroics. Both nations Mexico and Canada missed on directly qualifying for the Olympics but will get a chance next year when they participate in the 12 nation 2016 Olympic Qualifiers.
Corey Joseph’s buzzer beater:
At the end of the tournament’s presentation ceremony, the competition’s All-Star 5 and MVP were announced:
Forward & MVP: Argentian’s Luis Scola
Forward: Canada’s Andrew Wiggins
Center: Mexico’s Gustavo Ayon
Forward: Argentina’s Andres Nocioni
Guard: Venezuela’s Heissler Guillent
