Ángel Matías to Join Puerto Rico’s 3×3 National Team for Olympic Qualification Tournament

Ángel Matías, forward for the Cangrejeros de Santurce in the National Superior Basketball (BSN), will report at the end of April with the National 3×3 Team to participate in the Olympic qualification tournament, which will be played from May 3 to 5 in Japan.

The decision – reported by the Puerto Rico Basketball Federation (Fbpur) – was taken after the Santurce administration agreed to release the basket player before the 120 hours (five days) established by FIBA, as requested by the director of the 3×3 program. , Oscar Hourruitiner.

Matías, 31 years old, will join Adrián Ocasio, Leandro Allende, Antonio Ralat and Luis Cuascut, to fight for the ticket to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games awarded by the tournament. Likewise, he will participate in the exhibition game against the hosts on April 30.

If they do not get the Olympic ticket in Japan, Puerto Rico has a second chance in Hungary, where three tickets will be awarded in a competition that will take place from May 16 to 19.

ADVERTISING

“Both Ángel Matías and all our players have our support, especially when it comes to representing the flag of Puerto Rico. We know that he will do an excellent job representing us and we will be waiting for him when he returns from Japan,” said the general manager of Santurce, René Morales, in written statements.

“Grateful for the detachment of the management (of Santurce) to be able to reach an agreement. They (the Cangrejeros) have shown great support for Matías from the beginning and recognize the importance of his participation in this Pre-Olympic in view of the opportunity that our 3×3 National Team has to make history,’” said the president of the Fbpur, Yum Ramos, in the same press release.

On Tuesday, when approached by El Nuevo Día after the match between Santurce and the Leones de Ponce, Matías said that he planned to play on Thursday against the Osos de Manatí and on Saturday against the Vaqueros de Bayamón.

The loss of Matías will be an important one for the Cangrejeros, who are playing for a 3-4 record. Matías is the leading scorer for the Crustaceans, averaging 19.1 points per game. If he joined the National Team after Saturday’s game against the Vaqueros, Matías would miss at least three games and could be back on May 9, also against Bayamón.

If Puerto Rico did not get the ticket in Japan, Matías would be called up again for the second tournament in May.

2024-04-24 14:48:29
#Ángel #Matías #join #3×3 #National #Basketball #Team #ahead #time #fight #Olympic #ticket #Japan