Radio Gol
·29 août 2025
AmeriCup: Argentina edge Puerto Rico in extra time, reach the semi-finals

In partnership with
Yahoo sportsRadio Gol
·29 août 2025
The Albiceleste came out on top in a tough match, winning 82 to 77, and secured a spot among the top four teams in the tournament. The other semifinal is between Brazil and the United States.
In a tremendous game, Argentina clinched a place in the semifinals after defeating Puerto Rico 82-77 in overtime. Prigioni's team gave a huge display of character to qualify among the top four in the Americup.
Argentina's best players were José Vildoza with 18 points, Gonzalo Corbalán with 14, Nico Brussino with 11 points and 10 rebounds, and Juan Fernández with 12 points and 8 blocks. For the Puerto Ricans, the standouts were José Alvarado with 23 points and Ismael Romero with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
Argentina started the game ready to fight from the physical contact, using a zone defense that managed to shut down the defensive rebounds. From there, they ran the floor and found collective scoring with organized offenses, hitting 3 out of 5 three-pointers, to take an 18-11 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The key entry of an unstoppable Alfonso Plummer, who hit 3 consecutive three-pointers, allowed the Puerto Ricans to surge at the start of the second quarter with a 13-3 run. Argentina was solid on defense but lost fluidity on offense and had low efficiency in the paint (2/10). Still, Prigioni’s team didn’t lower their intensity and stayed in the game through defense and fast breaks, reaching halftime ahead 36-35 against González’s team, who stayed close thanks to 4 three-pointers from Alvarado.
The NBA point guard from Puerto Rico continued to hurt Argentina at the start of the third quarter, taking advantage of defensive lapses with his skill, leading an 11-3 run that put them ahead. From there, the Albiceleste became more static on offense and depended on Vildoza’s shooting, while on the other side the Puerto Ricans grew in confidence with their shooting (4/7 in the quarter) and fed an unstoppable Romero in the paint with his physical power. Thus, the Caribbean team ended the quarter ahead 59-51.
The zone defense once again provided great solutions for Argentina, who gradually closed the gap and got within one possession with 5 minutes left. However, just when they were in position to take the lead, some mistakes in ball handling gave Puerto Rico a 4-0 run to regain the advantage. On defense, the Albiceleste held on with Juan Fernández shutting down the paint with help defense and 4 blocks (8 in total), until two free throws by Corbalán tied the game at 70 with 21 seconds left after 5 offensive possessions that ended in missed three-point attempts. Alvarado missed the last shot and the game went into overtime.
Juani Marcos took the team on his shoulders at the start of overtime and with good drives gave them a slight advantage, although Puerto Rico struck back with Alvarado until he left due to injury. Then, Prigioni’s team capitalized with Fernández’s rolls to the basket, who continued his tremendous defensive work to seal a huge victory and qualify for the semifinals.
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.
Direct
Direct