Brazil Into U18 Gold Medal Game With 70-56 Win Over Argentina

June 29, 2010 • San Antonio, Texas

• Box Score

Brazil (4-0) outscored Argentina (2-2) by 17 points in the fourth quarter to capture a semifinal game 70-56 Tuesday night at the FIBA Americas U18 Championship at Bill Greehey Arena in San Antonio, Texas.

The Brazilian team advanced to Wednesday’s gold medal game, and will take on the winner of USA and Canada at 7 p.m. Central Time. Argentina, which won the gold medal in 2008, will play for the bronze at 5 p.m. against the USA/Canada loser. All four teams previously qualified for the 2010 U19 World Championships in Latvia.

“Since day one we are a group,” said Brazil’s coach Walter Roese. “ We don’t have one player; we have 12 players.  Today I rotated players, everybody played.  The guys off the bench were huge for us.  We started a little flat, but that’s why I say we play as a group, we win as a group, we lose as a group.  So far we have been lucky, we’re winning. They’re (Argentina) a very talented team.  They are the South American champions so it is big for us to beat them here. “

Lucas Nogueira of Brazil, who stands 7-feet tall, led the game with 16 points. Eleven of his points came in the fourth quarter, where Brazil outscored Argentina 28-11. Nogueira shot 6-8 from the field and pulled in a game-best 12 rebounds, while blocking eight shots. Felipe Taddei added 11 points for his team, and Raul Neto had nine.

 “I feel great about the game but very tired, the team is also tired,” Nogueira said. “We pulled through the fourth quarter with energy.”

Argentina was paced by Patriao Garino with 10 points, and Lucas Machuca added nine. Marcos Delia was the leading rebounder, with 10, while scoring seven points.

Halftime had Argentina in a 26-22 lead, and a 45-42 advantage after the third quarter. Then, Brazil went to work, shooting 55 percent (10-18) in the fourth quarter, and limiting Argentina to 25 percent (4-16). Brazil registered a 9-0 run early in the period, and led 54-47. Argentina closed to 49-54, but Brazil went on another run, 10-2, and led 64-51.

Brazil shot 44 percent (24-55) from the field, and Argentina hit 32 percent (18-56). The rebounding column belonged to Brazil, as they led Argentina 46-27.