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FIBA Americas U18 Championship: Days 1 and 2
The first two days of the FIBA Americas U18 Championships have been completed in San Antonio. There have been no surprises. In Group A Canada and Brazil are undefeated at 2-0. In Group B the USA and Argentina are undefeated at 2-0. All four teams will wind up advancing to the semi-finals regardless of who wins tomorrow's contests between Canada-Brazil and the USA-Argentina.
The first day of action started with Canada topping Uruguay 76-52, Canada led 21-4 after the first period after scoring the first 17 points of the game.Kyle Wiltjer and Kevin Thomas led Canada with 14 points. Wiltjer, the star of the tournament so far, canned 4-of-5 three-pointers. Khem Birch had a nice game with 8 points and 9 rebounds.
The other first day games were all easy wins. Brazil topped a disorganized Puerto Rican squad 78-53 as Lucas Riva Nogueira sank 8-of-9 fiels goal attempts on the way to 20 points and 12 rebounds. Argentina had no problem with Mexico in their 78-53 win as they led 35-12 at halftime. The USA then has some fun at the Virgin Islands expense in a 131-63 romp. The USA had 9 players in double-figures led by Austin Rivers with 19. Quincy Miller-Scott grabbed 17 rebounds.
Today's action stated with Argentina running away from the Virgin Islands 82-50. Brazil then won the most competitive game of the tournament so far with a 71-64 win over Uruguay. Ivan Loriente Perez was impressive for Uruguay with 23. Canada then topped Puerto Rico 100-83 behind 31 points and 10 rebounds from Kyle Wiltjer. Wiltjer shot 5-for-6 on three-pointers bringing his tournament total to 9-for-11. Myck Kabongo helped with 22 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists.
The USA then dismantled Mexico in the finale 114-38. The USA had seven players in doulble figures led by Austin Rivers and Trevor Cooney with 16 points.
The games should be more competitive tomorrow,
Carl Berman is a Managing Partner of NetScouts Basketball and can be followed on twitter @carlberman. Thanks to Ross Davis of FIBA Americas for the photos.
FIBA Americas U18 Championship: The Semi-Finals are set
Today's action at the FIBA Americas U18 Championships in San Antonio featured the four undefeated teams battling for the title in their individual groups and preferred seeding in tomorrow's semi-finals. 
The first game of the day featured Canada and Brazil. Most experts predicted Canada to win but that wasn't the case. It was a closely contested game but Brazil took a 44-36 lead at halftime and were never seriously challenged as they defeated the Canadians 83-78. Brazil was helped by a masterful performance by point guard Raul Neto. Neto contriolled the game and outplayed his more highly rated counterpart Texas-signee Myck Kabongo. Neto wound up with 34 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists against only 2 turnovers. He was helped by 7-footer Lucas Nogueira (pictured on left) who chipped in 13 points, 9 rebounds and 6 blocked shots. The Brazilians made it tough inside for Oregon prep 6'9 Kyle Wiltjer. Wiltjer had 18 points and 5 rebounds but had some issues finishing inside against the Brazilian size. Myck Kabongo scored 20 points to go along with 12 rebounds for Canada but shot only 7-for-21 from the field and was forced into 7 turnovers.
The other key matchup had the USA against Argentina. It was no contest as the USA continued to impress. The Americans raced out to a 51-25 halftime lead and coasted to a 88-67 win. The USA led 79-43 after three quarters, then lost their focius as Argentina outscored them 24-9 in the final stanza. Quincy Miller (pictured on right) led the USA with 22 points while Austin Rivers scored 13.
Tomorrow night in the semi-finals, Brazil will face Argentina followed by the USA and Canada.
In the classification bracket, Uruguay topped Puerto Rico 67-54 behind 23 points from Ivan Loriente. Puerto Rico has been a dissapointment in this tournament. The Virgin Islands topped a small Mexico squad 88-78 in the other game. Aaron Brown dominated the game for the Islanders with 39 points and 10 rebounds.
Carl Berman is a Managing Partner of NetScouts Basketball and and be followed on twitter @carlberman. Thanks to Ross Davis with FIBA Americas for the photos.
USA and Brazil for the FIBA Americas U18 Title
The USA and Brazil will meet for the FIBA Americas U18 title in San Antonio tomorrow night.
Brazil won the first semi-final defeating a game team from Argentina 70-56. Argentina held a 45-42 lead after three quarters but ran out of gas in the final period as Brazil outscored them 28-11 to take the victory. Today's star for Brazil was Lucas Noriega (pictured on left). The 7-footer dominated play inside and swatted away eight Argentina shots. He finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Noriega had 11 points and six rebounds in the fourth quarter. The Brazilian point guard Raul Neto (pictured on right), who scored 34 points yesterday, was lmited to nine points primarily due to foul trouble and good defense from Argentina. Brazil won the battle of the boards 46-27.
In the nightcap the USA flew out to a 37-10 first quarter lead over Canada and coasted to a 122-89 victory. Austin Rivers (pictured below) was amazing for the Americans. The son of Celtics coach Doc Rivers, scored 35 points on 9-for-12 shooting from downtown. Texas signee Myck Kabongo tried to match him with 32 points of his own on 11-for-15 shooting but he did not get the support that he needed from his teammates. 6'9 Kyle Wiltjer was in foul trouble and was held to 7 points. 7'4 Gursimran Bhullar was the only other Canadian in double-figures with 14. Kyrie Irving played a nice floor game for the USA with 12 points and 7 assists.
In the classification games, Uruguay had no problem with Mexico in their 106-63 win. Ivan Loriente continued his impressive play with 26 points on 6-for-11 three-pointers. Uruguay has been a pleasant surprise in the tournament. They will face Puerto Rico for 5th place. Puerto Rico defeated the Virgin Islands 87-79 behind 17 points and 10 rebounds from Christopher Ortiz. Aaron Brown continuued his strong play with 31 points for the Islanders. Uruguay defeated Puerto Rico 67-54 in the preliminary round.
Carl Berman is a Managing Partner of NetScouts Basketball and can be followed on twitter @carlberman. Thanks to Ross Davis of FIBA Americas for the photos.
USA Tops Brazil in Thriller for Gold Medal at FIBA Americas U18 Tourney
It was a great final game as the USA held off mutiple three-point chances from Brazil in the last seconds to escape with an 81-78 victory. The Americans trailed by as many as nine points and were down 67-62 with seven minutes remaining. The last minutes were exciting. The USA came back from the five point deficit to take the lead 74-72 on a jumper by Jereme Richmond with 4:12 remaining. Brazilian PG Raul Neto tied it at 78 with 40 seconds left. Quincy Miller then put the USA up 81-78 with his own three-pointer with 25 seconds left. Brazil then missed multiple chance to tie, First Neto missed a drive with 8 seconds left but Lucas Nogueira got the offensive rebvound and found a wide-open Felipe Taddei. Taddei missed his three-point try but the ball went out of bounds off the USA giving the Brazilians another try with 4.1 seconds left. Bruno Irigoyen missed a contested three-pointer at the buzzer and the USA escaped with the gold medal.
Duke-bound Kyrie Irving led the Americans with 22 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists. Austin Rivers (pictured on left) added 19 and Quincy Miller had 11 points and 12 rebounds including the winning three-pointer. Brazilian 7-footer Lucas Nogueira was the best player on the floor with 22 points, 14 rebounds and three blocked shots.
The third-place game was equally exciting as Canada topped Argentina in overtime 86-83 on a three-pointer from 6'9 Kyle Wiltjer with 1.7 seconds left. Canada came back from a 52-45 deficit at the start of the fourth quarter. Canada used a 12-1 run to take a 62-61 lead and then the game went back and forth. A Julian Clarke three-pointer put Canada up 71-67 but Marcos Delia tied it at the end for Argentina to send the game to overtime. Argentina hels an 83-80 lead but a three from Clarke tied it and Wiltjer's shot won it for Canada.
Wiltjer led Canada with 27 points on 5-for-6 three's. Myck Kabongo 9pictured on right) added 15 points and 12 assists. Carlos Paredes scored 28 for Argentina.
Fifth place went to Uruguay as they best Puerto Rico for the second time in the tournament 78-64 behind 32 points from Mathias Calfani and 22 from Ivan Loriente. The Virgin Islands need overtime to defeat Mexico 89-86 for seventh place.
Carl Berman is a Managing Partner of NetScouts Basketball and can be followed on twitter @carlberman. Thanks to Ross Davis of FIBA Americas for the photos.