Colombia lost at the beginning of its preparation for the Olympic basketball playoffs

The Colombia basketball team lost to his similar Mexico by a blunt 54-113 during the qualifying rounds for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023which will be held from July in Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines.

In it Ivan de Bedout Coliseum of Medellínthe Colombian national team, who arrived at the game with no chance of qualifying for the World Cup and with the loss of Jaime Echenique, Juan Diego Tello y Hansel Atencia due to injury, he was clearly surpassed by the visit, despite taking a four-point lead at the beginning of the first quarter, but the pace imposed by the Aztec quintet became difficult to control for those led by Guillermo Moreno, point that they not only kept the first quarter, but also increased their advantage throughout the game, achieving partial 7-31 in the second room and 16-31 In the third.

Statistically, although the duel for rebounds was even between both quintets (37 for Colombia and 42 for Mexico) they went to effectiveness in the three-point shot and the number of steals from the visit (9) added to the losses of the ball by the locals (15) which made the difference.

On the part of Mexico, the great figure of the match was the point guard Orlando Mendezplayer of the Captains of Mexico City, team belonging to the NBA development league. With 20 points (he completed a 7/11 in field goals), 5 rebounds y 3 assistsled his team to a resounding victory that keeps them in the fight to secure a ticket to the World Cup on the last date, when they face Uruguay.

In Colombia, the offensive contribution of Brian Angola, the great reference and scorer of the national team. The escort at the service of the Karsiyaka Basket of Turkey could only contribute 5 points, with a weak 1/6 in field goals. The highlight of the venue during the game came from the hands of the power forward Andres Ibarguencon 19 points and 6 rebounds. . . . Another of the highlights was Romario Roquewhich contributed 9 points, 3 rebounds and 5 assists from the bench and starred in the most outstanding play of the commitment (even highlighted by FIBA ​​in its official accounts) with a penetration where he skilfully passed two Mexican players before converting the basket.

Faced with the impossibility of continuing to fight for the qualification to the FIBA ​​World Cup, Colombia faces the last matches of this qualifying window in preparation for the Olympic playoffs, for which the dates will be confirmed once the qualifying phase is over. On the last date Colombia will face Puerto Ricowho maintains a fight with Mexico y Brazil to ensure the two remaining direct places, since the first is already held by the USA, who together with Canada are the only countries that have a guaranteed ticket to the World Cup. The game between Colombia and Puerto Rico will be played again in the city of Medellín Sunday February 26 starting at 7:10 pm (Colombian hour).

It should be remembered that this is the first time that the Colombian basketball team plays in the capital of Antioquia during this qualifying process. All previous matches were played at the Elias Chegwin Coliseum in Barranquilla. Part of the reason for changing the venue is explained by the fact that a man from the land, J Balvin recently confirmed that he and DJ Pope would be sponsors of the National Team. The latter was even accompanied by other referents of the urban genre at the Iván de Bedout Coliseum, starring in the events prior to the game.