2013 FIBA Americas Championship (DAY 2): Uruguay, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Venezuela win

Juan Pedro Gutierrez of Argentina in action duringthe match between the Dominican Republic v Argentina

Day 2 of the 2013 FIBA Americas Championship saw Uruguay, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Venezuela win their respective matches at Caracas, the capital city of Venezuela.

Uruguay 68-66 Jamaica

In the Group A encounter, Uruguay defeated Jamaica 68-66 to hand the Jamaicans their second defeat in the second day in a row. The first quarter was even with both teams scoring 17 points each. Uruguay took the second quarter 17-14 to go into the half-time break with a three-point lead. Jamaica took the third quarter 19-14 to go into the last quarter with an impressive two points lead. The score at the end of the third quarter was Jamaica 50-48 Uruguay. But Uruguay took the last quarter 20-16 to win the match 68-66. For Uruguay, Esteban Batista top scored with 22 points and 14 rebounds, followed by Leandro Garcia Morales with 20 points and 4 assists. On the other side, Samardo Samuels top scorer with 19 points and 6 rebounds for Jamaica.

Canada 67-83 Puerto Rico

In the other Group A match of the day, Puerto Rico defeated Canada 83-67 to win their second match of the championship. Earlier, Puerto Rico had defeated Brazil while Canada had beaten Jamaica on their opening match. Puerto Rico took the first quarter 19-13, while Canada took the second quarter 24-21. Puerto Rico took the first half, 40-37. At the end of the third quarter, Puerto Rico were leading by one point (Puerto Rico 59-58 Canada). Puerto Rico came out even stronger in the last quarter to outclass Canada. Puerto Rico took the last quarter 24-9 to beat Canada 83-67. Carlos Arroyo had 20 points and 4 assists, Larry Ayuso scored 19 and Renaldo Balkman finished with 18 and 11 rebounds for Puerto Rico. For Canada, Andrew Nicholson had 21 points and 7 rebounds and Tristan Thompson had 20 points and 9 rebounds.

Dominican Republic 91-72 Argentina

The Dominican Republic opened its campaign in the 2013 FIBA Americas Championship with a 92-71 win against defending champions Argentina. Dominican Republic took the first and third quarters 28-16 and 31-10 respectively, while Argentina took the second and last quarter 23-13 and 23-19 respectively. James Feldeine top scored for the Dominican Republic with 21 points, while Argentina’s top scorers were Luis Scola and Nicolas Laprovittola, both with 12 points.

Paraguay 70-75 Venezuela

In a dramatic match, hosts Venezuela defeated Paraguay, 75-70, on the second day of Group B action in the 2013 FIBA Americas Championship. Paraguay were ahead 17-16 at the end of the first quarter. Paraguay also took the second quarter 20-19. After the half-time break, hosts Venezuela came out strong and took the third and fourth quarter 21-17 and 19-16 respectively to win the match 75-70. For Venezuela, Sucre Axiers top scored with 15 points and grabbed 8 rebounds, while Gregory Vargas and Donta Smith added 14 points each. For Paraguay, Guillermo Araujo top scored with 22 points.

The 2013 FIBA Americas Championship is under way at Caracas, the capital city of Venezuela with 10 teams affiliated to the FIBA Americas sub zone fighting for the prestigious title and most importantly, for the top four spot to qualify for the 2014 FIBA World Cup in Spain.