Francisco Garcia (DOM)
04/09/2015
Review
to read

Dominican Republic and Canada on winning streaks, Mexico and Canada stay undefeated on Day 4

MEXICO CITY (2015 FIBA Americas Championship) - Day 4 of the 2015 FIBA Americas Championship had hosts Mexico and Argentina keeping their undefeated records and Dominican Republic along with Canada jump-starting winning streaks in the first round of the Group Phase.

The Dominicans defeated Uruguay, 90-70, for their second straight victory and guaranteeing they will advance to the next phase of the tournament.

The Dominicans were lethal from the perimeter at the start of the game, against a Uruguayan team that never found its rhythm after falling behind early. James Feldeine was again the star of the Caribbean team with 17 points, 5 assists and 2 rebounds. For Uruguay, Bruno Fitipaldo stood out with 18 points.

Argentina added another impressive performance, in particular in the second half of their 96-64 win over Cuba.

It started out as a competitive game, with Cuba's Jasiel Rivero having an amazing performance (16 first half points) that saw the teams head back to the locker room at half-time tied at 45.

But in the second half the story was completely different as Argentina's young guns were able to pull away thanks to a 34-10 third quarter on their way to a comfortable win and improve to 3-0.

"Our team is playing at a high level," Argentina head coach Sergio Hernandez said after the game.

"We had two direct rivals [Puerto Rico and Canada] against whom we did not only win but had good basketball performances.

"We came to this tournament with two goals: to try to qualify for the Olympic Games and to learn every day because we have a young team. I think we're doing that. The balance so far is very positive."

Canada made the big statement of the day by dominating previously unbeaten Venezuela82-62.

Venezuela tried to match-up with Canada's athleticism and the team's powerful transition game, but simply could not contain their multiple offensive weapons.

Nik Stauskas had 16 points, including four three-pointers to lead five Canadians in double figures.

"I think we played better today, especially on the defensive end, I feel that our defense produced a lot of our offense, but this game is over, this is a long tournament and maybe we'll meet again in the future, so we have to focus on the next opponent," said Cory Joseph who had 10 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists.

Mexico extended their unbeaten streak with a great performance against Panama beating them 82-68 to stay atop Group A with three wins in as many games.

Mexico and Panama were evenly matched in the first half, but Paul Stoll blew the game wide open by hitting five three-pointers in the third quarter and the home side held on to a comfortable lead the rest of the way.

Mexico stayed on top with a comfortable lead for the rest of the game.

"It was a very even game in the first half and it was only in the second half that we put on the batteries," said Ramon Diaz, acting head coach during the game against Panama, due to the suspension of Sergio Valdeolmillos.

"We managed to maintain a strong defense and that was the key to win the game. If we continue working as we are doing we will fight for one of the tickets for the 2016 Olympic Games."

The two teams that reach the Final of the 2015 FIBA Americas Championship will qualify directly to the 2016 Rio Olympics, while the teams that come in third, fourth and fifth will clinch places in the2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments (OQTS).

This changes if Brazil finish among the top two. In that case, the third-place team will advance to the Rio Games. If they finish in the 3rd-5th places, then the 6th-place team will advance to the 2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

All games can be watched live on livebasketball.tv (registration and subscription required; geo-blocking may apply; click here for the full list of territories and broadcasters) and highlights will be available on youtube.com/fiba.

Go to fiba.com/Americas2015 for full coverage of the 2015 FIBA Americas Championship.

FIBA