Brazil bounce back, beat Argentina, Canada, Dominicans, USA get easy wins: FIBA U18 AmeriCup 2024 - Day 2
Day 2 of the FIBA U18 AmeriCup 2024 saw a lot less drama with Brazil bouncing back to beat Argentina the only close game as Canada, Dominican Republic and USA rolled to easy wins.
Those looking for major drama on Day 2 of the FIBA U18 AmeriCup 2024 were probably disappointed as just one game was close - Brazil bouncing back to beat hosts Argentina - while Canada, Dominican Republic and United States all registered easy blowouts. Day 3 on Wednesday will finish off group play and set up the Quarter-Finals games for Thursday. The four winners on Thursday will be the first teams to join hosts Switzerland in the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2025.
Here is the link to the review of Day 1
Brazil bounce back, down Argentina
Brazil rebounded from their historic loss to Belize by fending off hosts Argentina 74-66 in Group B. Brazil evened their record at 1-1 while Argentina have now fallen to 0-2 and face Belize on Wednesday.
Brazil survived shooting just 17.6 percent on three-pointers (3-of-17) as Patrick Perna scored 21 pointsm, Enrico Borio had 16 points and 12 rebounds and Mathias Vazquez collected 13 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 of Brazil’s 8 blocks. Tyler Kropp paced Argentina with 26 points and 13 rebounds.
Argentina had the better start and pulled ahead by 10 points 27-17 early in the second quarter. Brazil answered with an immediate 11-0 run to pull ahead and the game was close 55-53 with 5 minutes left in the game. Perna poured in 6 points in a 13-3 run to put the game out of hand for Brazil.
Canada crush Puerto Rico for first win
Canada grabbed their first win of the tournament as they rebounded from their loss to Dominican Republic with a 93-54 thrashing off Puerto Rico. Canada are now 1-1 in Group A and Puerto Rico dropped to 0-2.
Canada were led by Matthew Dann with 18 points, Jalen Roane scored 15 points and Efosa Oliogu chippped in 13 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists. Alejandro Aviles was top scorer for Puerto Rico with 11 points. Puerto Rico shot just 31.8 percent for the game and were out-scored 30-10 in points from turnovers and Canada amassed 40 fast break points.
Canada arleady led by double figures after 10 minutes and pulled away for good with a 33-18 second quarter and then finished strong by allowing just 6 points in the fourth quarter.
Dominicans race away from Venezuela for 2-0 mark
Dominican Republic locked in first place in Group A after racing away from Venezuela 99-63 for a perfect 2-0 record while Venezuela fell to 1-1.
Lucas Morillo scored 24 points for the winners with Danny Carbuccia contributing 19 points, 7 assists and 5 steals and Fernando De Los Santos added 13 points. Jeiminson Marquez tallied 22 points in a losing effort. The Dominicans took advantage of 24 Venezuelan turnovers for a 35-10 edge in points off miscues while turning a 21-10 advantage on offensive rebounds 25 second chance points to 8 for Venezuela.
The game was still close early in the second half before Canada started pulling away, winning the third quarter 29-20. But the blowout was on in the fourth quarter, where Canada out-scored Venezuela 26-6.
USA give no chance to Belize for second win
United States brought Belize back to reality as the six-time reigning champions breezed to a 150-54 victory for a 2-0 mark in Group B and Belize dropped to 1-1.
Eight USA players scored in double figures with Darius Acuff leading the way with 23 points and Christopher Brown tallied 19 points, Jeremiah Fears picked up 17 points, 6 assists and 7 steals and Morez Johnson added 15 points, 15 rebounds and 3 blocks. Belize was held to 26.4 percent shooting and commited 27 turnovers while Ian Parham scored 12 points and Day 1 hero Josiah Mobley had 11 points on 5-of-16 shooting with 8 rebounds.
A day after shocking Brazil, Belize were shown the difference in talent level from the get-go, falling behind USA 39-15 after 10 minutes and scoring only 9 points in the second quarter.
After two days of action, this is what the groups look like.
Here is the schedule for Day 3 - the final day of action in the group stage
