Thursday August 23, 2007
Mexico beats Puerto Rico in FIBA Americas opener
LAS VEGAS (AP) - Victor Mariscal scored 30 points, 22 in the first half, and led Mexico over Puerto Rico 100-89 in the Americas championship on Wednesday.
Earlier, Esteban Batista scored 26 points, including the basket that forced overtime with under two seconds left in regulation, for Uruguay to overcome Panama 88-84.
With a strong defensive effort that held Puerto Rico star Carlos Arroyo without a field goal, Mexico pulled away after the Puerto Ricans rallied from a 12-point halftime deficit to grab a one-point lead early in the fourth quarter.
Puerto Rico committed 27 turnovers, 15 in the first half. That helped Mexico outscore the Puerto Ricans 13-5 in the final 5 minutes of the second quarter to build a 57-45 halftime lead.
Puerto Rico got back into it late in the third behind Angelo Reyes, who scored eight points in the final 1:44 to make it 76-73 heading to the fourth.
Arroyo, who plays for the Orlando Magic, was 0-for-10 from the field and scored four points. Rick Apodaca had 15 points, and Reyes added 14 for Puerto Rico, which has struggled since upsetting the United States in the 2004 Olympics. Batista's basket with 1:54 left in overtime gave Uruguay the lead for good at 81-79. He also grabbed 19 rebounds.
Nicolas Mazzarino added 25 points for Uruguay, which erased a 15-point deficit thanks to woeful Panama shooting. Panama missed 16 of 19 3-pointers and was 17-of-36 at the foul line.
Jaime Lloreda scored 21 points, but Panama couldn't hold on after he fouled out with a little more than 5 minutes remaining in regulation. Danilo Pinnock had 16 points.
Uruguay tied it at 75 with 1.8 seconds left in regulation on Batista's drive. Panama threw away the inbounds pass, giving Uruguay a chance for the win, but Batista was just short after catching a lob pass.
Panama led by 15 points in the first half and was ahead 45-34 at halftime behind Lloreda, who had 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting. But Uruguay dominated the third quarter, outscoring Panama 24-11 to take a 58-56 lead into the fourth.
Uruguay faces reigning Olympic gold medalist Argentina on Thursday in another Group A matchup. Panama will play Puerto Rico. - AP
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