Led by Campazzo, Argentina beat Brazil and is three-time champion of the Americup

Argentina conquered the three-time Copa America basketball championship by defeating host Brazil 75-73 this Sunday in the city of Recife, the star of an electrifying final of the continent’s main basketball team tournament.

the albiceleste, guided by the former base of the Knicks from New York Pablo Prigioni, won his third crown thanks to the advantage obtained in the first quarter (26-14), as the locals beat them narrowly in the other times (22-24, 19-22, 8-13) .

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With four minutes and 59 seconds to go, and backed by their fans, the Brazilians even tied the game, by then 67-67, and seconds later they managed to lead the score.

However, the Argentines managed to come back, supported by forward Gabriel Deck, who scored 20 points, and the captain, point guard Facundo Campazzo, another of his outstanding athletes.

Deck, from Spanish Real Madrid, had the best scoring average in the competition (21.2 on average, 127 in total in six games) and was considered the most valuable player.

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With the victory, Argentina obtained its third crown, after the rises in 2001 and 2011, precisely against Brazil, and buried an adverse streak of two consecutive losing finals: against the United States in 2017 and against Venezuela in 2015.

Prigioni’s quintet won all six games, even defeating the defending champion, the United States, in Saturday’s semifinals.

The victory in the South American classic is celebrated twice in Argentina, which this weekend celebrated the official inclusion of former basketball player Emanuel Manu Ginóbili to the NBA Hall of Fame, an honor he shares with just four other Latin Americans.

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Brazil and a “bitter taste”

The hosts, for their part, were deprived by two points of winning their fifth crown, a prestige that would ratify them in second place in the historic record of the championship, led by the Americans (seven).

The Argentines matched Puerto Rico’s victories in third place.

“I feel a bitter taste, but I think we have to be proud and happy for having returned to a podium after so many years”, said point guard Marcelinho Huertas.

The four-time champions, commanded by Gustavo de Conti Gustavinhowere not among the top three since 2011, when Argentina defeated them in the final in Mar del Plata.

Before the deciding game, the United States quintet, made up of athletes from the G-League and from European leagues, they took third place by defeating 84-80 the Canada of forward Dalano Banton, of the Toronto Raptors of the NBA.

The seven-time champions stumbled in the first half (15-16, 14-20), but reacted in the last two quarters (25-21, 30-23) by following the scoring trail of Gary Clark (18 points) and assist by Norris Cole (8), his most outstanding man in the tournament.

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The Americup 2022 of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), known as the Copa América of that sport, was played at the Geraldo Magalhaes Coliseum Gerald from Recife (northeast).

Colombia, who played this tournament for the second time, could not get past the group stage, in which they defeated Urguay, but lost against Brazil and Canada.

The competition, which has been played every four years since 2017, was to be held in 2021, but was postponed due to the covid-19 pandemic.

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