Uruguay Runs Roughshod Over Mexico 106-63

June 29, 2010 • San Antonio, Texas

• Box Score

Behind a game-high 26 points from Ivan Loriente, Uruguay (2-2) handed Mexico (0-4) its fourth defeat in dominating fashion today. The Uruguayans mauled Mexico 106-63 in the consolation round at the 2010 FIBA Americas U18 Championship in San Antonio, Texas.

We changed our objective, now it is to win 5th place,” said Uruguay head coach Fernando Cabrera. “And by luck we’ve composed ourselves again and we’ve learned from our past errors.  We’ve started to work with capacity that the team started off with. Our key contributors have been the whole team…everyone.”

It didn’t take long for the young Uruguay men to establish themselves. With less than three minutes elapsed in the game and the score tied at 7-all, Uruguay reeled off 30 unanswered points. The South Americans’ run ended with 6:38 to play in the half when Mexico’s Jaime Cruz scored to end his side’s scoring drought. But Mexico was never able to recover and trailed 51-21 at the half, 74-40 at the third quarter break and was outscored 32-23 in the fourth quarter.

In addition to Loriente, Uruguay was paced to the victory by Mathias Caltani’s 21 points, while Diego Garcia and Juan Modernell each tossed in 10 points. Garcia dished out six of his team’s 23 assists.

Mexico’s bright spot of the day came from Juan Rangel’s 25 points. Kevin Acosta scored 13 and Sergio Panduro added 10 points.

Uruguay capitalized on Mexico’s 23 turnovers, getting 17 points off miscues. The Uruguayans also outrebounded Mexico 38-18, had 17 steals to Mexico’s nine, connected on a blistering 62.9 percent (39-62 FGs) from the field and shot an even 50 percent (11-22 3pt FGs) from beyond the arc.  In contrast, Mexico managed 36.8 percent (21-57 FGs) from the field and 31.8 percent (7-22 3pt FGs) from afar.

“I’m enjoying the tournament,” said Uruguay’s Matias Guerra Monetti. “The tournament is competitive, and I’m enjoying it. The first teams we played were very competitive and good, and we’re lucky to have regained this game.  Our country never plays in a tournament like this.”

“I am enjoying the tournament,” added Luciano Parodi Gonzalez. “I like being in the United States-- the court, the game, everything. As a team, we knew that we could come out and play strong, but our game against Canada was a tough one.”