Little Hoops Fall To Espana

Argentina scored the game’s first eight points but ended up being brushed aside 88-68 by Spain on the second day of the FIBA U19 World Championship.

In the Group D clash, Sebastian URANGA opened Argentina’s account with a three-pointer, Sebastian MORALES followed with a jump shot and Nicolas DE LOS SANTOS also struck from the arc as our young guns seized an 8-0 lead just over three minutes into the game. But Spain struck back with a 24-6 spanning 12 minutes to take the lead for good.

Argentina did keep the contest close for the first 20 minutes and only trailed 33-27 at the break, however, the Spanish delivered a knockout punch soon after the restart. They extended a 37-31 advantage to 51-31 with 5:44 remaining in the third quarter, with Victor CLAVER scoring nine of his game-high 23 points in that run.

At the end of the third period, the lead was 63 -38 and the game turned into an exercise in damage limitation for Argentina. The game was not attractive to watch, with Spain turning the ball over 27 times to 24 for Argentina. Where Spain excelled was good shot selection. They ended up 25 of 39 (64.1%) inside the arc while Argentina were 17 of 36 (47.2%).
Spain are unbeaten at the top of pool while Argentina are 1-1 following their victory over Korea on day one.